The planning history of Tournerbury Woods is complicated.
At the beginning of 2026 there were two separate planning applications and a further planning appeal that had not been determined.
These were as follows:
1. The outstanding planning appeal was on the refusal of APP/19/01262, referred to as the CLEUD, which had been appealed but left in abeyance. This was for a Certificate of Lawful Use which would have legalised any usage of the site that had continued for 10 years without Council intervention.
2. APP/21/01310, which was lodged in 2021, but has never been processed for determination by Havant Borough Council. This is a retrospective application to approve the original unauthorised development.
3. APP/23/00076, where consent was given in September 2024, but where that consent was quashed by a High Court Order following the Judicial Review initiated by the Saving Tournerbury Woods Group.
The result of the High Court Order, which quashed the original consent given for APP/23/00076, is that APP/23/00076 must be redetermined by Havant Borough Council and the consultation period has now ended.
The Planning Inspectorate called in the appeal to APP/19/01262, or CLEUD, and a public inquiry was scheduled to start in February 2026.
We have just been informed by the Planning Inspectorate that the Appellants, the owners of Tournerbury Woods have withdrawn from the CLEUD appeal and therefore this matter is now closed and cannot be re-appealed.
This now leaves APP/21/01310 still to be determined (which has been outstanding for over four years) and APP/23/00076 which we expect to go to the Planning Committee at some stage in 2026.
We will let you know as soon as we have the date for the Planning Committee meeting.
Our supporters should be aware that the failure of Havant Borough Council to determine APP/21/01310 is of great concern to Saving Tournerbury Woods.
Following an Enforcement Order being issued in March 2020, which required the owners of the site to remove ‘from the Land, all buildings (excluding the dwelling house), structures, decking and marquees and any other paraphernalia associated with weddings and commercial events’, a ‘Non-Prosecution Agreement’ between Havant Borough Council and the Developer was concluded, which we discovered under FOI requests in 2022.
STW consider this to be an abuse of process and allows the continuing harm to the woods until such time as APP/21/01310 is determined.