Plans to scrap a key committee overseeing New Alresford’s neighbourhood plan have prompted one councillor to warn that future decisions could be made ‘behind closed doors’.
New Alresford Town Council will meet on Tuesday, June 30, at 7 pm to review progress on the neighbourhood plan and decide how the next phase will be managed.
The project has now reached Stage 4, which focuses on revising the draft plan and carrying out the Regulation 14 consultation.
The Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee, which has not met since March 2025, could now be dissolved at the meeting on Tuesday if councillors back the plans.
Instead, the Town Clerk, with councillors Ann Bean, Sam Dalling, Barbara Jeffs, and Marilyn Weston, would take the lead on the consultation, talking to planning officials, and gathering all the comments.
Councillor Bean currently serves as the chair of the Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee.
The full council would still make the key decisions on what goes into the final plan.
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Alresford Councillor Andy Sprott commented: "The agenda proposes that the same councillor is being lined up to continue to lead the process.
"The intention is clear; more of the same, but this time without the safeguards of committee governance, which requires deliberations to be conducted in public and minutes published afterwards.
"This proposal would mean that everything will be discussed behind closed doors, before being rubber-stamped by the council, who will have no knowledge of the decision-making process and the facts underlying it."
Cllr Sprott is urging people to attend Tuesday’s meetings to share their views.
He continued: "It worries me a great deal, and I would strongly encourage members of the Alresford community to attend Tuesday's meeting to have their say and observe how their council actually operates."
A spokesperson for New Alresford Town Council said: "The recommendations are set out in the published agenda to Councillors. The council will determine the matter following debate at the meeting, where the reasons for the recommendations will be considered."
The meeting will take place at Arlebury Park, The Avenue.
