Welborne developers claim estate would '˜soak traffic up' after fears of gridlocked roads

DEVELOPERS behind a prospective 6,000-home estate have moved to allay fears the development will lead to gridlock on roads.

Buckland Development Limited, the developers behind the potential Welborne estate to the north of Fareham, are holding an exhibition in Ferneham Hall today ahead of submitting outline plans for the site.

Following a previous exhibition in July in which residents voiced fears that the development would have huge impacts on traffic on the M27, A32 and A27, the developers have now put in place a transport strategy which they claim will actually reduce peak hour traffic on the roads.

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Mark Thistlethwayte, chairman of Buckland Development Limited said that Welborne will ‘soak up’ the traffic along these routes.

He said: ‘One of the biggest concerns that we’ve had from residents is over the impact of traffic.

‘This is something we will be able to deal with, by making Junction 10 of the M27 accessible both ways and providing multiple site access from the A32, we are going to soak up all the traffic.’

Buckland say their transport strategy has been extensively tested by Hampshire County Council.

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They say peak hour flows on the A32 heading north will barely change, traffic flow into Fareham on the A27 will decrease, traffic on Highlands Road will decrease and that peak hour flows on the M27 between Junction 10 and 11 will also be reduced.

Mr Thistlethwayte added that an outline planning application for the site should be submitted in early January with the developers targeting work to start in 2019 with an estimated completion date of 2036.

However, a dispute between Buckland, who are major landowners of the site, and the Benge Estate is still on-going with Fareham Borough Council still pursuing buying the site through a compulsory purchase order (CPO).

Bob Blackman of Beaumont Close, Fareham said: ‘The traffic through Fareham is already at full capacity.

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‘I think they have to really think about these changes to routes as they need to be managed effectively or it will lead to utter gridlock.’

Alan Williams, of Fareham Common added: ‘I have been fighting against these plans for years.

‘The view from my house has been green fields since I moved in thirty years ago but soon it will all just be housing. I also just do not think the roads will be able to cope.’

The exhibition will be available to the public until 8pm this evening.

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