Delight as controversial countryside estate plan for 62 homes is thrown out on appeal
Controversial homes plans have been rejected
A strip of countryside has been spared from a 62-home housing estate after a planning inspector threw out plans to build on the grazing land.
The proposed scheme from Bargate Homes would have turned two fields west of Old Street on the edge of Stubbington into a new estate with roads, parking and public open space.
In a decision notice published on July 27, planning inspector AJ Sutton said the land forms part of the countryside that separates the town from the Meon Valley.
The inspector warned that the development would chip away at the ‘Meon Gap’ and would make the area “distinctly suburban”.
The appeal followed Fareham Borough Council’s decision last summer to reject the outline plans for the nine‑acre site, which sits close to the Titchfield Haven nature reserve.
The application, submitted in November 2024, prompted more than 340 objections and was rejected after planning officers said the fields lay outside the defined urban area and formed part of a “valued landscape”, despite 40 per cent of the proposed homes being affordable.
Following a hearing and a site visit at the start of June 2026, the planning inspector raised doubts over Bargate Homes’ promises to include self-build and custom homes in the plans.
While the plans talked about setting aside plots for people to design and build their own houses, the report said there was no firm legal guarantee that this would happen.
The inspector warned that letting the scheme proceed without that safeguard could weaken efforts to deliver genuine self‑build housing locally.
They said it would be “easy” to secure the required self‑build and custom plots by legal agreement, but that the developer had “persisted with a course of action” that failed to provide certainty they would be delivered.
Following the news of the appeal outcome, Cllr Pal Hayre, Conservative for Stubbington, said: “This reflects the strength of our community and the dedication of everyone who took the time to submit comments, attend meetings and support the campaign.
“Thank you to every resident who played a part. Your determination, commitment and passion for protecting our local countryside and the character of our area have made a real difference.”
The inspector accepted that new homes and affordable housing are badly needed in the borough but said the harm to the countryside and the failure to secure self‑build plots tipped the balance against the Old Street plans, even in the face of Fareham’s housing shortage.