Traffic concerns due to 200-home proposal

Fareham Land LP is seeking outline planning permission for up to 200 dwellings on the site which sits between Newgate Lane and the recently opened Newgate Lane East.

Asda Community Champion Sharon Noble said: ‘Obviously for our supermarket having 200 new homes will mean more customers but it will intensify the problem with exiting our car park on to Newgate Lane.

‘But on the other hand it will mean more cars and it makes me think what is the point of the new road as they are just going to add loads more cars and traffic to it.

‘I agree that it is a good road when there is no traffic compared to the other one and you can get down it quicker but when there is traffic it makes no difference and you have all the same problems as before and this will only make it worse.’

The plans include provision of 40 per cent affordable housing, play areas, pedestrian links towards Bridgemary and an acoustic buffer from the new bypass.

Local resident Paula Bond said: ‘These new homes will just undo any good the new road has given us.

‘The effect of 200 new homes plus the 475 they have planned for the other side will cripple us in terms of traffic, not to mention air pollution, schools and healthcare.

‘They are also improving Daedalus and making it more industrial and that means more traffic as well so all of it together will make these roads unbearable.

‘I know they have to put homes somewhere and no one wants them in their back yard but building a new road to help existing residents and then flooding hundreds of new homes on it helps no one out.

‘They also really need to sort out Quay Street Roundabout to help out Newgate Lane as well.’

Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Councillor Sean Woodward said: ‘This site is not in the current local plan and not in the draft local plan.

‘When we did our call for sites a few years ago we had land for 10,000 houses when we only required 2,000 so there is land out there for 8,000 that developers will continue to promote.

‘The sooner we get our five-year housing land supply the better and we should have it within the next few weeks.’

​​It comes after many residents branded the new £9.5m road a waste of money.

A public exhibition will be held on Tuesday, May 22 from 3pm until 7pm at St Matthew’s Church, Wych Lane, Bridgemary, PO13 0JN.