'˜He's deluded': Council leaders clash over plan to build new houses between Fareham and GosportÂ

Proposals in Fareham's draft local plan include 475 homes on land off Tukes Avenue in Bridgemary '“ with a separate proposal for 200 homes off Newgate Lane East.

The news comes as the Gosport Labour Party announced protests on September 20 and 21, campaigning against the proposed housing.

Emma Smith, secretary for the Gosport Labour Party, said: '˜Fareham Borough Council is not listening to us and we want to make sure our voices are heard.

'˜Fareham will get the council tax, but Gosport will bear the brunt of the pressure on services such as schools and doctors' surgeries '“ as well as the added traffic on our roads.'

But leader of Fareham Borough Council, Cllr Sean Woodward, insists that the views of Gosport residents aren't being ignored '“ but that the need for housing has to be met.

He said: '˜If people responded to the consultation then they can't say they're being ignored.

'˜Currently there is no planning applications for the proposals in the draft local plan so no decision has been made; nobody has been ignored.

'˜The irony is that according to my director of planning, Gosport has a housing shortage of 1,250 homes '“ we are providing hundreds of homes when Gosport isn't meeting its own requirements.

'˜People in Gosport use our infrastructure when they come and shop and use the roads '“ we don't object to that even though the reason air pollution is so high is that there aren't enough jobs in Gosport. That's just how it is.

'˜Infrastructure is a very real concern but the government's overriding priority is housing and we will accommodate that need.'

Leader of Gosport Borough Council, Cllr Mark Hook, says that Sean Woodward is '˜deluded' over the borough's housing supply.

Cllr Hook said: '˜There's clearly something wrong with his thinking.

'˜We have our housing numbers and we are delivering them '“ we have 600 homes at Haslar and another 200 at Daedalus which have been approved.

'˜If Cllr Woodward thinks he's meeting Gosport's demand then he's deluded and we're happy to meet him and explain the supply we have.

'˜What he says about infrastructure is no argument to be honest '“ we believe the strategic gaps are important to stopping the urban sprawl; that is a policy supported by Gosport, Fareham and the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire '“ which Cllr Woodward is chairman of.

'˜The fact is they have no justification for wanting to build and to say it is for Gosport is absolute nonsense.'