Anger as new housing planned for Wickham 'is in a gap' to protect village from Welborne

Winchester City Council has told Wickham Parish Council to consult the public to help look for viable sites for the additional homes.

The plans have been criticised due impending arrival of Welborne Garden Village, soon to be built on land south of Wickham and to the west of Hoads Hill and Wickham Road.

Recently Welborne took a step forward as cash was released to pay for improvements to junction 10 of the M27, which has to be completed before work can start on the development.

Welborne is 20 years in the making, comprising 6,000 homes, three primary schools, one secondary school and various community facilities.

Wickham resident Chris Knowles-Vollentine said the plans have ‘no consideration of the context of Welborne and the thousands of homes soon to arrive on the doorstep'.

He adds one of the proposed sites, Mayles Farm, is ‘outside the village policy limit for building but actually within the development gap that both the parish and Winchester City policies set in place as protected in order to try to minimise the impact of Welborne on Wickham and stop it being swallowed up.

‘The requirement for Wickham to increase its housing allocation sits within a wider context of an increasing demand for housing within the south east, however, it fails to recognise that Wickham sits at the southern edge of Winchester’s responsibility but mere metres from an intended 6,000 dwellings due to commence construction next year.’

The council said it has asked ‘more sustainable’ areas of the district to allocate a ‘modest’ number of new homes to assist the growth in its emerging local plan.

‘The level of growth is based on a standard methodology provided by government which sets a figure for additional housing in relation to each local authority area,’ a council spokesperson said.

‘As part of this, we are working with Wickham Parish Council to look at the various areas of land which have been put forward by landowners and promoters in the locality to see which sites may be most suitable for development.

‘This takes into account that Welborne Garden Village is planned for land inside Fareham Borough (just to the south of our district).’

The council will consult the public on its emerging local plan later this year, and currently residents can sign up for the local plan newsletter for more information.