Plans for 100 homes in Warsash approved despite 'catastrophic' warnings and petitions from residents

The planning committee for Fareham Borough Council has granted permission for Bargate Homes to build 100 houses on the land next to Greenaway Lane.

Bargate Homes has to contribute to a new play area and ensure 40 per cent of the properties are affordable housing.

But the council received objections from 28 residents, with concerns raised about congestion, dangers to pedestrians, and destruction of the countryside setting.

One resident of the nearby road said: ‘Greenaway Lane is currently a beautiful, meandering, semi-rural lane with no pavements.

‘The lane is enjoyed daily by pedestrians, joggers and wildlife alike.

‘If this development is forced through the increase in road traffic would make it very dangerous for all those, not to mention residents who live on the lane.

‘There would be a catastrophic effect on the diverse variety of existing wildlife that currently use the land to graze and run free.’

The concerns echo those raised by a petition with 2,300 signatures earlier in the year, calling developments across Fareham’s western wards – including plans for more than 800 homes in Warsash – ‘catastrophic’.

The petition said :’Warsash specifically is on a peninsular and the only roads in and out are Brook Lane and Warsash Road.

‘Emergency vehicles will be unable to ensure safe response times – during rush hour it is likely they will not have space to get to their destination.

‘The consequences will be catastrophic.’

SEE ALSO: Plans under way for new D-Day memorial to be built in Gosport

Fareham Borough Council has already granted outline permission for three developments to the east of Brook Lane, which will see the construction of 562 homes, while a development to the west of Greenaway Lane will add a further 30 homes.

The chairman of the council’s planning committee, Councillor Nick Walker said: 'If we could have had a master plan with all the developers getting heads together we could have got a better outcome in terms of access.

'A master plan is what we wanted to achieve and council officers spoke to the developers - but they weren't prepared to come together in on big group.

'They all have their own concerns.'

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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