VIDEO: Fears remain over Welborne as new designs go on display

RESIDENTS' fears over a 6,000-home '˜juggernaut' development were not allayed as fresh designs were unveiled.
Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for WelborneMark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne
Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne

More than 100 people went to Buckland Development Limit’s exhibition in Ferneham Hall, Fareham, yesterday as they sought to seek an updated look at the plans for controversial new town Welborne, which will be built to the north of Fareham.

Paul Lamport of Wallington said: ‘It’s a juggernaut of an application and we know that nothing is going to stop it from happening.

‘However, we still have our concerns.

Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for WelborneMark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne
Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne
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‘It’s scary how much of an impact it will have. I don’t like that we will lose our green spaces.’

Chris Nixon, of Beaumont Rise, said: ‘I honestly don’t think we’ll see any work on the site for 10 years.

‘The infrastructure is just too much for them to have in place for it. We need another major hospital to accommodate Welborne.’

An outline planning application for the site, which will see three primary schools, one secondary school, a district centre and allotments will be submitted in October, a month after another public exhibition.

Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for WelborneMark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne
Mark Thistlethwayte at Ferneham Hall with new designs for Welborne
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A final decision on the application is expected by next March.

Mark Thistlethwayte, chairman of Buckland Development Limited, which owns more than half the land allocated for Welborne, said: ‘We hope that we can now start to begin an amicable process in bringing forward the plans for the site.’

Other landowners involved in the Welborne plan include the Benge Estate and eight others.

Mr Thistlethwayte said that the landowners were working together to have an application for the whole site and not have it split into two.

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‘I can confirm that we have good discussions with the other landowners and this application will cover the whole of the site.’

He added that Buckland is hoping for work to start on the site in January 2018 while the borough council is targeting a 2019 start date.

The development, which was formally adopted by Fareham Borough Council last June, has been delayed due to a breakdown in communication between landowners and after the council announced it would attempt to purchase the land to speed up the building process with a compulsory purchase order.

Welborne is one of the biggest housing developments in the country and plans have split opinion due to the loss of green fields.

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