Plans for 1,500-home ‘smart town’ pulled over viability concerns

A plan to build a 1,500-home ‘smart town’ on the site of a disused power station has been pulled due to the developer’s concern over viability.

Fawley Waterside, a company set up by landowner Aldred Drummond alongside investors, had received planning permission to build homes on a 300-acre site formerly housing Fawley power station.

The £2.3bn project, in the New Forest National Park and Solent Freeport area, was billed as a “smart town” with a 1.5m sq. ft science and technology innovation campus. Fawley Waterside in 2018 drew together a technical group, involving Cisco, IBM, Siemens, Vodafone and the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, to look at the application of Internet of Things technology in the town.

The scheme was also to have a 330ft tower, commercial premises, public open space and flood defences.

The designs were drawn up by architects Ben Pentreath and Léon Krier, both of whom notably worked on King Charles’ Poundbury development in Dorset.

A spokesperson for Fawley Waterside said: “The decision to withdraw the applications has not been taken lightly but multiple assessments of the current scheme have shown that it is not viable”.

Two outline planning applications were approved in 2020 and demolition of the power station was completed last year.

However approval was pending conditions agreed through a section 106 planning agreement. Planning documents at the time outlined 69 conditions, including a ‘phased approach’ to providing affordable housing. The application proposed at least 483 affordable homes.

A Fawley Waterside spokesperson said the company would now work with New Forest District Council and the New Forest National Park Authority to consider “the most appropriate” alternative development strategy for the site.

Jill Cleary, leader of New Forest District Council, said: ‘“Recognising the Freeport designation of the site, and the recently committed review of the New Forest District Council local plan, it is timely for us all to be able to consider how best this site can help to deliver benefits to the New Forest community, economy and environment.’

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David Bence, chair, New Forest National Park Authority, said: “The former power station site is, uniquely, entirely enclosed by the New Forest National Park and any successor scheme will need to meet an exceptionally high standard of design and layout that has regard to the landscape and setting of the National Park.

“Any redevelopment of the site must be comprehensive and integrate with its surroundings, delivering meaningful benefits for nature and wildlife and taking opportunities to improve public access.’”

The decision to pull the scheme comes weeks after Labour outlined a manifesto pledge to build a generation of new towns.