Controversial 42-home Bishops Green development going to committee at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
Bishops Green residents believe that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council would be “making a mockery of democracy” if they approved a 42-home development in the village.
Housing developer Hathor Property submitted a proposal for the homes on greenfield land on the west side of Ecchinswell Road, which is currently used as a paddock, in January.
The controversial plans, which have received 83 objections from nearby residents, is due to go to Basingstoke and Deane’s development control committee on Wednesday night.
The development was recommended for approval by planning officers if the applicant agreed to a number of requirements, such as 40 per cent affordable housing, an updated travel plan, works for an access junction onto Ecchinswell Road and contribution towards bus infrastructure improvements works.
Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green Parish Council objected to the plans. It argued that the borough council would be going against its own Local Plan if it approved the homes.
Parish council chair Marian Dain said: “Such development is contrary to the policies in the existing Local Plan and completely opposed to the policies being developed in the Local Plan Update under which small low-sustainability rural settlements like Bishops Green should not be exposed to significant housing development.”
She also stated that residents’ objections “centre on the adverse impacts on settlement sustainability, traffic and road safety and the environment”.
She added: “The proposed development is seen to be of inappropriate scale and too urban in style for what is a rural location.”
The parish council also believed if the approval was granted then Basingstoke and Deane would be ignoring the Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green Neighbourhood Plan it is currently pushing through examination.
Bishops Green resident Tony Forward lives north of the River Enborne, in the West Berkshire part of the village.
His main concern if the homes get approved is the strain extra people will place on infrastructure in West Berkshire and not on Basingstoke and Deane’s services.
This is something West Berkshire Council agrees with, with the council also believing that extra homes in Bishops Green would have a “severe impact on the A339 Bishops Green roundabout”.
Mr Forward objected to the plans and feared that Basingstoke and Deane would ignore the Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green Neighbourhood Plan and approve the 42 homes.
He said: “It makes a mockery of democracy that the public has been asked to contribute to this and now it’s been made useless for this particular application.”
Mr Forward also criticised the nature of Basingstoke and Deane’s Local Plan and the high number of houses it demands to be built in the borough.
He said: “We used to have a democracy where people got elected and if the public didn’t like what was going to happen then it wouldn’t happen.
“But now, you wonder why on earth have we got elected councillors looking into planning applications when the law makes it clear what decision they have to make. It seems astonishing.”
Mr Forward likened large housing developments proposed in rural villages such as Bishops Green to “a new pandemic”.
As well as Hathor Property’s 42-home proposal, land promoter Catesby Estates submitted a proposal to build up to 350 homes in Bishops Green last November. Basingstoke and Deane still hasn't made a decision on this application.
Mr Forward said of housing developers: “They buy up cheap farming land. It denies us the future of using it for farming.
“They make a quick buck because it's virgin soil and they don’t have to clear up any of the polluted soil from brownfield sites. They’re just laughing all the way to the bank."
