Kingsclere Parish Council objects to Porch Farm housing development

Kingsclere Parish Council has officially objected to plans for a 200-home housing development to be built on the outskirts of the village.

The plans, submitted to Basingstoke and Deane District Council by Vistry Group on June 30, have currently garnered 336 letters of objection and only four letters of support.

Kingsclere Parish Council decided to object to the Porch Farm plans at its last meeting on July 25.

The development, which is planned to be built on the western side of the village, just south of the A339, would expand Kingsclere by about 20 per cent.

The council believe that the site chosen is “unsuitable for significant housing development” and the “siting of the development means it cannot easily be integrated into the existing settlement”.

It also believes that “such a large increase in population would have a detrimental effect on amenities” and “increased car usage would exacerbate car parking and traffic flow issues in the village centre”.

Other reasons for objection include the access from the A339 being “totally inadequate”, the Porch Farm site not being one of the areas for development suggested in Kingsclere’s neighbourhood plan, and “provision of adequate infrastructure to support walking and cycling to the village centre has not been demonstrated”.

In a statement, the council said: “Kingsclere Parish Council consider this application to be an unsustainable detrimental addition to the village of Kingsclere.”