Developers’ plan for 350 homes in Portchester rejected for a second time by Fareham council after more than 100 objections from residents

Miller Homes has spent the last two years fighting to build the new homes on farmland east of Down End Road in Portchester.

An initial application was rejected by Fareham Borough Council in May last year, followed by an appeal being rejected by the planning inspector last November.

Now amended plans have been rejected by the council – with the planning committee split four votes for and four votes against, leading to the committee’s chairman, Councillor Nick Walker, casting the deciding vote during a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

The amended plans proposed a one-way system traffic light system at Down End Road railway bridge to address previous concerns – but this option would would lead to ‘excessive queuing’, according to Cllr Walker.

He said: ‘I’m not against the development – I’m just against the way that Miller Homes wants a cheap way – and it is cheap – to mess this bridge up and make it a retrograde bridge.

‘I just cannot believe the number of vehicles held up will be the number quoted (in the report).’

The highways authority had forecast that just six cars could be left queuing at the lights during morning rush hour.

More than 110 residents wrote to the council to object to the plans, with concerns about pedestrian safety, congestion, and environmental damage.

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One public comment from a resident called the plans ‘flawed’.

Paul Winfield, of The Ridgeway, which connects to Downend Road, said: ‘The plans to install traffic lights to control the traffic over the railway bridge on Down End Road are flawed.

‘Far from acting as a safety measure, I believe that they will result in additional risks while at the same time leading to unacceptable traffic delays and resulting in heavy pollution and damage to the environment.

‘Undoubtedly this proposed development will have a serious and detrimental effect on everyone that lives in the area and uses Down End Road.’

The council rejected the initial application after an outcry from residents, with one claiming proposed pedestrian access to the site was ‘an accident waiting to happen’.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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