Divisive four-home Ball Hill development plans granted planning permission

Divisive plans to build four homes in Ball Hill have been granted planning permission.

The plans involve the removal of existing structures and buildings used for a ground works business on the 0.86 acre site that is located on land adjacent to Orchard House on Ball Hill Road.

Four new dwellings will be built on the irregularly shaped plot of land, with access to two of the four properties provided from Ball Hill Road, and access to the other two provided from Heath End Road.

The plans were contentious among local residents, with the planning application receiving 15 objections and 10 showings of support from members of the public.

Penny Burton, the owner of the ground works business R J Lampard and the land on which it lies, said: “We are now looking to retire, in part for health reasons, so the timing for the site to be sensitively redeveloped is now.

“It will provide much needed local housing and also get rid of what some people locally regard as an anti-social use.”

Highclere resident Penelope Dean-Evans said: “It is an excellent usage of a brownfield site and better for bio-diversity if sensitively developed.”

The Garretys of Upfield Cottage, a property opposite the development site, objected to the plans.

They said: “This is yet another application for local landowners to attempt to replace agricultural buildings with a significant number of new homes.

“There is no shortage of houses in this hamlet and is unlikely to be of benefit to people, particularly younger people, already living in the hamlet.”