'I'm nearly speechless': Plan for 261 'appalling' homes in Fareham rejected by councillors

The application would have seen Persimmon Homes build the new homes on farm land east of Oakcroft Lane in Stubbington.

The planning committee at Fareham Borough Council received more than 150 letters of objection from residents close to the proposed site.

Planning officers told the committee that the plans would be contrary to more than 20 council policies, ranging from concerns about the houses’ appearance to the development’s lack of sustainable travel provisions.

One resident said the plan would represent ‘carte blanche capitulation’ to developers wanting to build within the strategic gap between Fareham and Stubbington in the future.

Resident Mr John said: ‘The Persimmon proposal could not be more bereft of mitigating considerations.

‘Obviously they plan to build as many densely packed houses on hitherto open fields.’

Councillor Hockley said the ‘cramped two-storey and three-storey houses reminded her of the song Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds, which protests suburban sprawl.

She said: ‘I thought it looks awful.’

The plans, which would have included 114 properties as two-bedroom flats, left Councillor Kay Mandry ‘nearly speechless.’

She said: ‘It really takes the biscuit.

‘These developers say, “we know that we do not have a five - year housing supply” .

‘But that does not give them the opening to cram as many buildings as they can into the countryside.’

The developer had originally proposed to build more than 300 homes within a space smaller than two football pitches.

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes, Dave Buczynskyj, said the development would have contributed more than £2m to infrastructure projects in the borough and £1.3m to the council’ s education budget.

The council voted unanimously to reject the plans.