A MEMBER of the East Meon Neighbourhood Plan group says the document should be ready to be voted on this year.

The plan will outline where new houses should be built in the village, pinpoint future priorities, and how residents would like to see the village develop.

Plan leadership group member Chris Moor said: “We are close to having a draft plan ready for public consultation, and the plan referendum should be this year.”

A recent step in the plan’s progress is a request for South Downs National Park Authority experts to check if the plan contains any proposals which might trigger the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Under planning legislation, projects that would need an EIA, include a community heating scheme or an anaerobic digestion plant, neither of which are planned for the village.

At last Thursday’s joint East Meon Parish Council and steering and leadership group meeting, members were tasked with compiling the first outline draft.

Once that is completed, residents will be able to comment on it, and changes can be incorporated if it is felt there is reason to do so.

The draft plan will then go to the South Downs National Park Authority for yet another consultation, and finally it will be looked at by a government inspector.

Once those stages have been successfully negotiated, there will be straight yes/no referendum on adopting it, in which only those living within the village parish boundary will be able to vote.

The neighbourhood plan process began in 2013, when the parish council agreed one was needed to protect open spaces in the village.

Under government house building guidelines, East Meon has been earmarked for 15 new homes,