Fareham and Gosport strategic gap at risk as 300 homes around Newgate Lane go to appeal

THE strategic gap between Fareham and Gosport is at risk as another major housing plan goes to appeal, with more than 280 proposed homes awaiting a decision.

By Richard Lemmer

Published 29th Apr 2021, 12:30 BST

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Three developments would see 289 homes built around Newgate Lane, with Bargate Homes looking to build 99 homes north of the Brookers Lane footpath and 115 homes north of the Woodcote Lane footpath, while Fareham Land plans to build 75 homes in the area.

The applications were sent to Fareham Borough Council – but the local authority failed to rule on the plans within the prescribed time limit.

Now, Bargate Homes has lodged an appeal regarding the non-determination of the 99 homes site.

Pictured is: Nick Walker, councillor for Portchester West ward and chairman of the planning committee. Picture: Sarah Standing (280920-7349)

Pictured is: Nick Walker, councillor for Portchester West ward and chairman of the planning committee. Picture: Sarah Standing (280920-7349)

It means all three sites will be decided by a government planning inspector, with a ruling on the 190 homes north of Woodcote Lane expected in early summer.

The chairman of Fareham Borough Council’s planning committee, Councillor Nick Walker, defended the council by saying that ‘a whole range of factors’ meant the planning system had struggled to decide on the plans in time.

Cllr Walker said: ‘There's a whole range of factors - the borough plan that we had to tear up, we had the new top-down figures from the government, the nitrates issue, and then the pandemic.’

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Plans have been put forward for 75 homes from Fareham Land (in purple) and 115 homes from Bargate Homes (in blue), who also aim to build 99 homes (in green) in the area. Picture: Google Maps

Plans have been put forward for 75 homes from Fareham Land (in purple) and 115 homes from Bargate Homes (in blue), who also aim to build 99 homes (in green) in the area. Picture: Google Maps

Fareham Borough Council is not the only local authority that has found its planning department struggling to keep up with applications, with Portsmouth City Council facing a backlog of more than 600 applications waiting to be dealt with.

If the appeals affecting Fareham are successful, the plans could leave the gap between the borough and Gosport as narrow as a single road, Cllr Walker warned.

Addressing the land north of Brookers Lane, he said: ‘It was recommended for permission in 2017. Since then we’ve had another landscape assessment carried out in 2020, which said (we) are starting to narrow the strategic gap.

‘You are literally putting the gap down to one narrow road.’

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In their planning applications, both developers have argued that the sites help to maintain the strategic gap, with a ‘significant’ belt of open space identified to the west of the developments.

But local residents believe that the countryside between the two towns is not being properly valued, according to activist Tony Goodridge, part of the Save Our Strategic Gap group.

Last July, the group handed a 3,000-signature petition to Fareham Borough Council, calling for more efforts to protect the greenbelt.

Mr Goodridge said: ‘You only need to look around the strategic gap areas recently to see the number of people out walking and enjoying the countryside has doubled – if not trebled.

‘We need those spaces for our families.’

A hearing regarding the land north of Brookers Lane footpath will be held on June 22.

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