Welborne: Traffic education and healthcare top list of residents’ concerns

Fears were expressed at the event held in Knowle Village Hall last night that despite the proposals, including schools, a healthcare facility and upgrades to nearby Junction 10 and improvements to the local road network, there was no firm answer as to when these would be delivered.

Richard Morgan from Wickham said: ‘They are trying to make the best of a bad job and while they have all these plans to make Welborne great,  for local people it means for the next 23 years we are going to be living in a building site.

‘Traffic is going to be a disaster because they can’t complete Junction 10 and the road improvements before the first homes are built. As for the healthcare hub they have no finalised agreement for it which is a worry.’

At the meeting, run by Fareham Borough Council leader Councillor Sean Woodward and principal planner Mark Wyatt, the application submitted by Buckland was explained in its phases and attendees were given the chance to ask questions.

One resident labelled the new Junction 10 plan ‘flawed’ and asked if other configurations had been considered in order to be beneficial for traffic flow in both directions.

Winchester City Councillor Therese Evans for Wickham also attended the evening and questioned the buffer zones between Welborne and Knowle.

Cllr Evans said: ‘It is not like Knowle residents want a Mexican wall but they want a buffer for noise and such.’

Lib Dem and Fareham East councillor Katrina Trott said: ‘There are lots of valid concerns that residents have but it has also been brought up to me about police and fire stations and will there be any facilities for them.

‘It will also depend on their own resources which we know are lacking and I for one think the office of the crime commissioner is a waste and having an effect on resources.

‘How will a fire engine get to the other side of Welborne quickly and how well will it be policed considering there are  problems elsewhere.