News & Updates

ADD UPDATE, 31 August 2023: A firm of developers has acquired option agreements on 192 acres of land north of Fair Oak with a view to building 1,500 homes – so reviving a large part of the Option C expansion area rejected by the planning inspector two years ago. Croudace say their proposal would include a new primary school and local centre. The news is certain to alarm Fair Oak residents who will recall how the previous Eastleigh Local Plan would have engulfed the village, together with neighbouring Bishopstoke, in a massive urban sprawl. Eastleigh Borough Council has invited anyone to send in details of potential sites for development by September 6 as it gears up for its next local plan. It is not yet…

ADD UPDATE, 30 June 2023: Eastleigh is to get a new Local Plan, to be in place by 2029. It will replace the one adopted last year after Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s original version had been rejected by the planning inspector. Action against Destructive Development (ADD), having campaigned successfully to get fundamental changes to the previous plan, will be following progress closely. ADD accepts the case for new housing, and will support developments that are sensitive to the natural environment, the quality of life of residents and the housing needs of local people. So what happens now? September 6, 2023: Deadline for anyone to send Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) details of potential sites for development. Autumn 2023: Council to publish a Statement of Community Involvement,…

ADD UPDATE, 16 December 2022: It has been a long time since ADD communicated with our supporters, and there is a simple reason for this. Having achieved our aim of getting fundamental changes to the Eastleigh Local Plan, there has been little to say. At its meeting in October, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) voted to adopt adopt the revised plan for 2016-36 drawn up after the Planning Inspector’s stinging assessment of the original version. Gone are proposals to build up to 5,500 homes in Strategic Growth Options B and C, which would have created a huge urban sprawl covering large swathes of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke in the most eco-sensitive parts of the borough. EBC has also abandoned the link road that would have cut…

ADD UPDATE: 26 March 2022: The long-running saga of the Eastleigh Local Plan will finally end next month when Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) formally gives a revised version its approval after getting the green light from the planning inspector, Christa Masters. The new plan is radically different (and in our view hugely improved) compared to the one originally favoured by the council in December 2015. Most importantly of all, proposals (so-called Options B and C or the Strategic Growth Option) to create an urban sprawl the size of a small town to the north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke, encompassing the most eco-sensitive parts of the borough, are no longer there. The associated link road, essential for Options B and C, has also been removed.…

ADD UPDATE: 13 March 2022: Exciting plans to create a permanent new nature reserve in Bishopstoke and Fair Oak are a step closer after a vote by the Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committee of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) last week. The committee agreed unanimously to back a scheme drawn up by local Independent councillors Lou Parker-Jones and Gin Tidridge that would see the natural environment preserved “in perpetuity” on land currently occupied by Stoke Park Farm. Stoke Park Farm originally made up most of the Option B part of the Eastleigh Local Plan, which would have created an urban sprawl roughly the size of Petersfield. It was removed on the direction of the planning inspector, along with adjacent Option C. Describing…

ADD UPDATE, 14 February 2022: Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has welcomed news that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) is purchasing farmland in the former Option B area of the Local Plan – and that it has pledged to protect it as a green space. EBC leader Keith House said: “This land will remain undeveloped, help protect land between our communities and provide environmental benefits for the long term.” EBC is in the process of acquiring Stoke Park Farm and Manor Farm in Bishopstoke, land that the council had originally earmarked for housing as part of a 5,500-home expansion of the borough. In April 2020 the government planning inspector instructed the council to withdraw the proposal, along with the adjacent Option C development in Fair Oak.…

ADD UPDATE, Thursday 10 June 2021: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) has published its revised Local Plan following the Planning Inspector’s letter of 1 April 2020, which instructed the authority to delete Options B and C (the ‘Strategic Growth Option’ north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke). Anyone wishing to comment on the modified proposals has until 21 July to do so. ADD will be sitting down with its planning consultants to prepare its response. Although EBC is no longer proposing 5,500 homes north of Bishopstoke or a link road leading from Allbrook to Lower Upham, we still have a number of detailed concerns. We will inform supporters when we have finalised our submission. Click here for details from EBC, including – should you wish to do…

ADD UPDATE, 5 April 2021: We were deeply saddened to learn recently that Graham Mole, a passionate supporter of ADD and a resident of Bishopstoke, had passed away. A former TV producer who later became a respected angling journalist, Graham was a member of our media group, where his ideas and commitment made a valuable contribution to our work. “Graham was such a great contributor to the ADD campaign, bringing his journalism skills, experience, address book, ideas and an amazing amount of enthusiasm to fighting options B and C,” says local councillor Gin Tidridge. “I was always struck by his genuine passion for saving the Itchen and woods from the damage the development would have caused.” The one big consolation is that Graham (like Martin…

ADD UPDATE, 7 February 2021: ADD supporters will have noticed a lull in our activity recently. The reason is that we have been waiting patiently for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) to respond in full to the planning inspector’s letter of 1 April 2020 – something it originally planned to do by the end of last year. It now appears, however, that we will have to wait until May to learn EBC’s response as much of the necessary work has still to be carried out. You will recall that the inspector Christa Masters instructed EBC to make substantial changes to the Local Plan. These include the removal of Options B and C (the massive proposed developments in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke) plus associated link road. The…

ADD UPDATE: 21 December 2020: ADD is delighted to end this very difficult year with some Christmas cheer for its supporters and all who care about our area and its environment. The government has announced details of how it will replace its proposed algorithm, published on 6 August, which would have required local authorities in the South East to raise dramatically their housing targets. It would have meant a 21% increase for Eastleigh, amounting to several thousand additional homes, casting doubt over our hard-fought victory at last year’s planning inquiry. The revised policy will instead concentrate more development in existing urban and brownfield areas such as Southampton, where the necessary infrastructure already exists, and in parts of the North and Midlands. As a result Eastleigh’s…

Hampshire Chronicle, 20 October 2020: COUNTRYSIDE campaigners CPRE have raised major concerns over radical plans to change the planning system. As reported in the Chronicle, the Government is consulting on the largest overhaul of the planning system in 70 years. Nationally and locally in Hampshire, CPRE has convened a coalition of over 40 housing, planning and environmental organisations in opposition to the White Paper. CPRE Hampshire is finalising its detailed response to the consultation which closes on October 29. The charity has produced a summary for its members and the public to help with their own responses and has shared this with all town and parish councils in Hampshire. ADD supports CPRE’s position and is submitting its own consultation response to the Government’s flawed proposals.

ADD UPDATE: 10 October 2020: One reason we were overjoyed when the government’s planning inspector rejected the main part of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan in April was that her decision protected the ancient woodland that is such an important part of our area’s natural heritage. No fewer than seven areas of ancient woodland might have suffered irreversible damage had Options B and C (the plan for 5,500 new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) gone ahead in the way that the council had intended. Unfortunately, it turns out that this is by no means the end of the story; there is still much to do. The government recently announced its intention to remove existing protection for most of…

ADD UPDATE, 7 October 2020: ADD is increasingly being asked what impact the government’s new planning proposals will have on Eastleigh’s Local Plan. The short answer is we don’t yet know because the proposals, which are out to consultation, may change considerably before any legislation is introduced. But one thing is certain – we do need to be ready to fight again. Indeed, ADD and CPRE are already making representations, as are Upham and other parish councils. CPRE has also published an excellent summary post alongside a petition, which we ask everyone to sign (before the 29 October deadline), and share with friends. When Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s cabinet decided in June to scrap Options B and C (the plans for 5,500 houses and a…

ADD UPDATE, 30 June 2020: At a meeting last Thursday, Eastleigh Borough Council’s cabinet voted unanimously to accept the modifications required by the Planning Inspector if she is to approve the Local Plan. These changes include the deletion of Options B and C and associated link road (also called the Strategic Growth Option) – proposals that ADD has been fighting for more than four years. Council leader Keith House also pledged to block any speculative development in those parts of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke that were previously earmarked for an additional 5,500 homes under the Local Plan. In fact, he promised that all green spaces in the borough would be protected. In response to a question from independent councillor Gin Tidridge, he added that there…

CPRE Hampshire, 22 June 2020: Last year, CPRE Hampshire commissioned independent research by NEF Consulting, part of UK think tank the New Economics Foundation, to explore the social, economic and environmental value of the countryside in South Hampshire – the area where CPRE is campaigning for a new Green Belt to prevent urban sprawl. The findings of this research were announced today and conclude that this countryside could generate almost £26 million a year in terms of health, wellbeing, economic and ecosystem benefits if protected by a Green Belt. If you love walking along the Itchen in Eastleigh, exploring the woodland at Bishopstoke or walking in the Forest of Bere, then sign CPRE’s petition to show that you think South Hampshire should remain green.

ADD UPDATE, 5 May 2020: Hundreds of supporters took part in an hour-long ADD webinar on 29 April to discuss the latest developments with the Eastleigh Local Plan. Presented by Kate Beal Blyth, the virtual public meeting gave people the chance to question ADD chair John Lauwerys and committee member Caroline Dibden, who is also vice-chair of CPRE Hampshire – the countryside charity. The overall conclusion: although the planning inspector’s recent letter to Eastleigh Borough Council was a great boost for our campaign, there is still work to do. For those who were unable to join us, or who would like to view the webinar again, we have uploaded a recording here. Thank you again to everyone for your wonderful support.    

ADD UPDATE, 29 April 2020: Please join us for our first ADD Live! interactive webinar TONIGHT at 7.30pm. We will be briefing our supporters on the current status of Eastleigh’s Local Plan and what it means for our area – and answering your questions. Our webinar will last one hour. Please register in advance for our event using this link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. We would love to receive questions in advance. If you have a question, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to make sure it is answered on the night. We hope you, your families and friends remain well. Thank you again for all your support. Hope you can join us…

Hampshire Chronicle, 26 April 2020: A BOROUGH council has been slammed over its local plan after facing dozens of objections. As previously reported the Planning Inspectorate turned down plans for 5,200 homes near ancient woodland between Bishopstoke and Fair Oak within Eastleigh Borough Council’ s Local Plan. Now Richard Izard and Maggie Hill, chair and vice chair of Colden Common Parish Council respectively, have written an open letter to council leader Cllr Keith House. They say the plan was “questioned rigorously and found wanting in so many respects”. The councillors are also unhappy with how the borough is dealing with feedback from a planning inspector who raised concern over two of the draft options.

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2020: Please join us for our first ADD Live! interactive webinar this Wednesday, 29 April, at 7.30pm. We will be briefing our supporters on the current status of Eastleigh’s Local Plan and what it means for our area – and answering your questions. Our webinar will last one hour. Please register in advance for our event using this link. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. We would love to receive questions in advance. If you have a question, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to make sure it is answered on the night. We hope you, your families and friends remain safe and well. Thank you again for all your…

ADD UPDATE, 21 April 2020: We recently reported that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) intends to press ahead with Options B and C – the monster developments north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke rejected by the planning inspector – once the current Local Plan is formally approved. At the same time we promised to provide our own considered assessment of what might happen next, once the ADD committee had met to discuss it. In summary, we remain optimistic that Options B and C and associated link road, whilst not yet dead and buried, are unlikely ever to see the light of day. Nonetheless, ADD and our supporters need to be on full alert. Where are we now? EBC’s refusal to accept the planning inspector’s main conclusions…

ADD UPDATE, 19 April 2020: ADD will be holding its first ADD Live interactive webinar at 7.30pm on Wednesday 29 April 2020. We will be briefing our supporters on the current status of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and answering questions you may have. Registration and participation details will be released next week. In the meantime, please SAVE THE DATE.

ADD UPDATE, 16 April 2020: In an article last week, we wrote that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) had confirmed it will remove Options B and C – its proposals for 5,500 houses to the north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke – from its Local Plan, together with the proposed link road. The assurance came in an email from EBC’s chief executive Nick Tustian after ADD chair John Lauwerys had tackled him on comments implying that Options B and C could still be included despite an instruction from the planning inspector to delete them from the Plan. Council leader Keith House had accused ADD of having misled the public when we said that the inspector’s letter meant that Options B and C would have to go.…

ADD UPDATE, 12 April 2020: ADD has obtained confirmation from Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) that Options B and C – its proposals for 5,500 houses to the north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke – will be removed from its Local Plan, together with the proposed link road. The assurance came in an email from EBC’s chief executive Nick Tustian after ADD chair John Lauwerys had tackled him on comments implying that Options B and C could still be included despite an instruction from the planning inspector to delete them from the Plan. Council leader Keith House had accused ADD of having misled the public when we said that the inspector’s letter meant that Options B and C would have to go. Unfortunately that is not the end…

Hampshire Chronicle, 11 April 2020: PLANS for 5,200 homes near ancient woodland in Hampshire have been turned down. Planning inspector Christa Masters said the plans for 5,200 homes and an access road on land between Bishopstoke and Fair Oak should be removed from Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan. She said the process of considering the reasonable Strategic Growth Option (SGO) alternatives has been “flawed”. The council has now been asked to reconsider the proposals which would impact upon villages such as Colden Common, Owslebury and Twyford. The authority stressed its proposed SGO has not been dismissed nor found unviable. Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) said the inspector’s recommendation is exactly what ADD has been campaigning for and have now offered to work with the council.

Daily Echo, 8 April 2020: A ROW has broken out after plans for 5,200 homes near ancient woodland in Hampshire were turned down. Planning inspector Christa Masters said the plans to build 5,200 new homes and an access road on land between Bishopstoke and Fair Oak should be removed from Eastleigh Borough Council’s local plan. She said the process of considering the reasonable alternatives was “flawed”. The council has now been asked to reconsider the proposals. Writing on social media, Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes told council leader Keith House the plan was unworkable. He wrote: “Your flagship element of the plan, which you personally championed, has been ruled out of scope and your processes questioned in evaluating other sites. The local plan is in tatters.”

CPRE Hampshire, 7 April 2020: The government’s Planning Inspector has examined the Eastleigh Local Plan and concludes that the potentially damaging Borough Council’s Strategic Growth Option would see large tracts of countryside disappear and should be removed. Eastleigh’s preferred option for 5,300 homes, industrial space and a new road with bridge over the River Itchen, has been deemed unjustified and represents the least sustainable option in terms of transport. CPRE Hampshire has always maintained that the proposals would amount to huge urban sprawl close to the South Downs National Park, with an unnecessary new road which would contribute to the climate emergency. Caroline Dibden, Vice Chair of CPRE Hampshire, says: “The future for Eastleigh and its communities looks brighter. Common sense has prevailed.”

Eastleigh News, 6 April 2020: A letter from the planning inspector advising the Eastleigh Borough Council of her ‘significant concerns’ with their Local Plan has sparked a row between council leader Keith House, objectors and local MPs. Christa Masters has written to the council to itemise ‘significant concerns’ with the Local Plan, in particular the process by which the Strategic Growth Option (options B and C) was selected and instructing the council to delete the relevant policies from the plan. In an email to Eastleigh News Cllr House defended the plan and said that although the inspector has rejected policies based on options B and C – the site itself was still viable and that none of the options had been ruled out.

ADD UPDATE, 6 April 2020: ADD has given a strong welcome to the Planning Inspector’s letter to Eastleigh Borough Council in which she instructs the removal of Options B and C and the North Bishopstoke link road from the local plan. This is exactly what ADD has been campaigning for since early 2016, arguing that the plan would have created a massive urban sprawl, caused huge and unnecessary environmental damage and lead to traffic chaos without significantly addressing Eastleigh’s housing needs. In her letter Christa Masters states in paragraph 41: “I therefore conclude that these policies should, therefore, be deleted from the local plan.” She also criticised the process by which the council drew up the plan as flawed, saying that insufficient consideration had been…

ADD UPDATE, 28 March 2020: The news that Eastleigh Borough Council had posted a letter from the Planning Inspector on its website on 25 March initially caused us a flurry of excitement. The next major step in the Local Plan process is for Christa Masters, the Planning Inspector, to write an ‘advice letter’ to the council following the recent Examination in Public, at which interested parties including ADD presented evidence. Although not the final document, it will give a strong indication of her thinking about the Plan and therefore of our chances of having it declared unsound. As it turned out, she had written to say, in effect, that she needed more time and that the advice letter would be issued ‘as soon as possible’.…

ADD UPDATE, 17 February 2020: It’s now 19 days since the Planning Inspector completed her examination of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan. She is now considering the evidence before reaching her preliminary conclusion, due soon. In the meantime, the realities on the ground are clear for everyone to see. In the recent storm, for example, the road under the railway bridge at Allbrook, which is the key access route to and from the proposed estate of 5,300 houses, flooded yet again. This time police decided to close the road (see image above), stating: “Please be aware that Highbridge Road has now been closed (under the railway bridge at the bottom of Allbrook Hill) and no vehicles will be allowed through. The decision has been…

ADD UPDATE, 31 January 2020: On Wednesday afternoon, the Planning Inspector closed her Examination-in-Public of Eastleigh’s Local Plan with a short statement in which she thanked those who had taken part in the hearings and those who had attended. She declared that she would be writing to Eastleigh Borough Council in due course and that, until then, they should put a hold on progressing any of the many action points she had identified over the course of the examination. (These action points comprise clarifications and corrections to the text of the Plan, as well as the provision of additional evidence.) Asked by an Eastleigh planning officer about the likely timing of her letter, she said she was unable to give an answer. The hearings were…

ADD UPDATE, 21 January 2020: As reported in today’s Daily Echo, Botleigh Grange Hotel & Spa, the venue for the examination of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan, has gone into administration.  An ADD supporter who has been to several of the examination’s hearings so far, told us: “It’s no surprise! At the last session I attended there were notices up saying the spa and pool were closed, the lift was out of order, and the heating wasn’t working!” Another ADD supporter said: “The hotel failed a food hygiene inspection before Christmas, so the writing was on the wall. Given all the problems with the Local Plan, you couldn’t make it up!” For those of you wondering where the remaining two hearings of the examination – on…

ADD UPDATE, 16 January 2020: The bridge under the railway line at Allbrook has flooded… again. This matters because Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) want to use this tiny bridge as the principal exit to the M3 for a new estate of 5,300 new houses and 30,000m2 of employment buildings. This proposed development north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke is central to Eastleigh’s Local Plan, the soundness of which is currently being examined by Christa Masters, the government’s independent Planning Inspector. Alongside numerous other organisations and individuals against Eastleigh’s Plan, ADD has been representing our thousands of supporters at the Inspector’s examination, which is due to end on 29 January. There are many reasons against Eastleigh’s proposals, not least that not all the viable alternatives were…

ADD UPDATE, 5 January 2020: As reported in the Romsey Advertiser last month, Romsey residents have been “venting their anger” as HGVs continue to crash into a low railway bridge in Greatbridge Road. This happened twice in December alone (see a picture from 11 December above), taking the tally to 22 times in the last 15 years. As ADD supporters know, we have our own problems with a low railway bridge at Allbrook, which has itself been struck by five HGVs in the last three years. Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) now want to build 5,300 new houses, and 30,000m2 of employment development, on land to the east of Allbrook, the main access road for which will end up going under the Allbrook bridge. Indeed, by…

ADD UPDATE, 8 December 2019: The Planning Inspector’s examination of the Eastleigh Local Plan has now adjourned until 8 January 2020. ADD would like to thank the hundreds of people who demonstrated at the Botleigh Grange Hotel to show their support on 22 November. It was a great turnout when you consider the difficult timing (8.30am on Friday), the lack of parking space and the lousy weather. There was considerable media interest with both main local TV channels, Radio Solent, Wave 105, the Daily Echo, Hampshire Chronicle and Eastleigh News providing coverage. Turning to the examination itself, it has been an intense couple of weeks for ADD and our advisers, but we feel we have made our case effectively. Christa Masters, the Planning Inspector, has…

ADD UPDATE, 4 December 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 3 December, Flick Drummond, Conservative candidate for Meon Valley, sent us the following email: “I am opposed to the planned development of 5,300 houses (Option B and C) by Eastleigh Borough Council on some of the last green space in the Bishopstoke area. The road infrastructure is already bursting at the seams.…

ADD UPDATE, 27 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 27 November, Sam Jordan, Labour candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “To get straight to the point, I am against Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan, specifically Strategic Growth Options 5 and 6 (formerly Options B and C), and I was pleased to be able to support ADD and local residents…

ADD UPDATE, 27 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 27 November, Paul Holmes, Conservative candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “Politicians are often criticised for not giving straight answers so let me be crystal clear – I am opposed to this Local Plan. I share many of the concerns that ADD and local residents have with the plan in…

ADD UPDATE, 26 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 26 November, Lynda Murphy, Liberal Democrat candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “I understand concerns about Eastleigh’s Local Plan and, if elected as your next Member of Parliament, I will be independent of the council. I would represent all views and concerns, and challenge the council when I see it…

Letter to the Daily Echo from Annette Lodge, Chair of Trustees, St Francis Animal Welfare, 26 November 2019: “I AM surprised that council leader Keith House thinks our petition to save St Francis Animal shelter is ‘creating needless worry’. If he wants to persuade the community it’s needless, it’s really very simple: all he has to do is issue a categorical assurance that in this or any development plan he will personally protect St Francis Animal Welfare by allowing sufficient open space and belts of noise-abating woodland around us, to protect both us and the people in any new houses. Sadly candidate Lynda Murphy has yet to give us any assurances on this either, or to reply to us…  

ADD UPDATE, 26 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 26 November, Steve Brine, Conservative candidate for Winchester, sent us the following email: “I went to the Examination in Public at the Botleigh Grange Hotel last Friday and the words below come directly from my address to the Planning Inspector. ‘Eastleigh’s Liberal-run authority has been without a Local Plan for years meaning…

Daily Echo, 23 November 2019: LOCAL residents and campaigners arrived in their hundreds yesterday as they protested plans for 5,200 homes to be built near “ancient woodland”. Over 400 people campaigned outside the independent planning inspector’s examination meeting at the Botleigh Grange Hotel in Hedge End, as a last bid effort to stop the local plan being approved. It would see 5,200 new homes, shops, schools, open spaces and a new access road built on land between Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. Kate Beal Blyth, a representative of ADD, said how grateful ADD was for everyone turning out “despite the weather and lack of parking facilities to show their dismay and anger at the way Eastleigh are trying to steamroller their plan against the will of…

ADD UPDATE, 21 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 21 November, Lewis North, Liberal Democrat candidate for Meon Valley, sent us the following email: “As things stand I oppose the Eastleigh Local Plan proposals. I share the deep concerns of many people in Owslebury, Upham and Durley about the impact on local roads and the environment the proposed housing development may…

ADD UPDATE, 21 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 21 November, Ron Meldrum, Green Party candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “The philosophy of the Green Party is that we need a sustainable society and not one based on continual growth. The growth model of economics, which the other political parties are so keen on pursuing, is wrecking the…

ADD UPDATE, 21 November 2019: Over the last four years, volunteers at ADD, together with our professional advisers, have worked hard to hold Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), to account when it comes to his council’s Local Plan decision-making. Christa Masters, an independent Planning Inspector, will examine the details of his Plan at an inquiry starting today, and lasting into January. In an article in the Daily Echo yesterday about the huge support for St Francis Animal Welfare, a 62-year-old animal shelter which would be very badly affected by Easteigh’s Local Plan but has been ignored by EBC, Keith House gave the following statement: “The Local Plan is with the Planning Inspector ahead of the Inquiry and as such is now out…

ADD UPDATE, 20 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on the SGO. On 20 November, Paula Ferguson, Liberal Democrat candidate for Winchester, has sent us the following email: “As things stand I oppose the Eastleigh Local Plan proposals. I share the deep concerns that many people have about the impact on local roads and the environment the proposed housing development may have. Having lived in…

Daily Echo, 20 November 2018: OVER 6000 people have now publicly supported St Francis Animal Welfare, after another 1000 people have signed the petition in the last 24 hours. The Eastleigh community has united in support of ‘one of the oldest animal shelters in Hampshire’, after it was announced that the Council’s local plan will place it under severe threat… Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, said: “The Local Plan is with the Planning Inspector ahead of the Inquiry and as such is now out of the Council’s hands. The Inspector will not consider a petition. When the Local Plan is endorsed by the Inspector, any planning application for development will have to give regard to site issues including neighbouring land uses.”

ADD UPDATE, 18 November 2019: Ahead of the general election on 12 December, Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) is keen to help voters in Eastleigh, Winchester and the Meon Valley gain a better understanding of how their prospective parliamentary candidates feel about Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan and, in particular, its plans for a ‘Strategic Growth Option’ (SGO) of 5,300 houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. The Planning Inspector’s examination of the Plan starts on Thursday, 21 November, and runs for six weeks. We are therefore giving every candidate in these constituencies the opportunity to supply ADD with up to 350 words on their views on Eastleigh’s Plan.  We are happy to include appropriate images and links.  We…

Daily Echo, 18 November 2019: ONE of Hampshire’s oldest animal rescue centre’s is pleading for public support, as it fears the council’s local plan will ‘squeeze them out of existence’. Almost 5,000 people have signed a petition to save St Francis Animal Welfare in Fair Oak, before the council’s local plan to build thousands of homes east of Bishopstoke goes ahead, which would see houses built right up to the border of the rescue centre. The 62-year-old rescue centre cares for, rehabilitates and re-homes over 100 domestic animals who will no longer be cared for by their owners. Annette Lodge, the charity’s chair, said: “We don’t know what our future is… We fear we’ll be asked to move out but we were here first.”  

ADD UPDATE, 16 November 2019 – PLEASE READ: As many of you know, we are encouraging anyone who is opposed to Eastleigh’s Local Plan to attend a mass ‘presence’ at 8.30am this Friday, 22 November, in front of Botleigh Grange Hotel where the examination is taking place. This is aimed at Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), not at the Planning Inspector who is required to determine the soundness of the plan and is completely impartial. The press and media will be present to record the opposition of local people and we will have photo-shoot at 8.30am prompt. Thank you to everyone who has already indicated via our Facebook event or by email to [email protected] that you are coming. Your support is much appreciated. Please read on…

ADD UPDATE, 11 November 2019: After nearly four years of fighting Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan and the damage it would cause our area and quality of life, ADD will finally be making its case to the Planning Inspector later this month. We hope that this will be the last time we will ask you to show your support – so please join our peaceful demonstration at 8.30am on Friday 22 November at Botleigh Grange Hotel and Spa (Grange Road, Hedge End, SO30 2GA), where the examination is being held. Let’s make sure the Planning Inspector understands the strength and depth of local feeling about this appallingly destructive scheme. We have been told that EBC is working with the hotel to ensure there will be…

Hampshire Chronicle: 11 November 2019: VILLAGES near Winchester will suffer from Eastleigh Borough Council’s plans for 5,000 homes, Conservative County Councillor Jan Warwick told a Local plan inspector. Eastleigh’s proposal for 5,000 homes on greenbelt land will lead to extra traffic and pollution in Otterbourne, Compton and Shawford. Cllr Warwick, who represents the Downlands division that covers the villages, said the authority’s Liberal Democrats had not listened to her residents, who would be impacted by the Local Plan to concrete over the boundary with Winchester City Council. She explained there was no evidence around the timing, mitigation, funding and delivery for the development’s proposed link road, or studies showing the impact on the existing road infrastructure. She also raised concerns about the proposals’ carbon footprint.

ADD Update, 8 November 2019: A quick but important update – please take a few seconds to read! ADD is supporting St Francis Animal Sanctuary, based on Mortimers Lane in Fair Oak, in its efforts to persuade Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, that his Local Plan proposal for the development of housing in the adjacent to Mortimers Lane (the so-called Option C area) will have a devastating impact on the animal sanctuary. Eastleigh has not even responded to requests from St Francis to recognise the problems that will occur if Eastleigh’s ill-considered plan goes ahead, let alone help them find a solution. A planning inspector will start her public examination of Eastleigh’s Local Plan on 21 November, with hearings lasting for a period…

ADD UPDATE, 1 November October 2019: As you’ll recall from our post of 11 October, the Independent Planning Inspector will begin her examination of Eastleigh’s Local Plan at Botleigh Grange Hotel & Spa on 21 November, running until the end of January. Given how much hard work ADD’s volunteers, supporters and professional advisers have put into fighting Eastleigh’s Plan, we are asking everyone who is against it to turn up at Botleigh Grange Hotel & Spa (SO30 2GA) at 8.30am on Friday 22 November. This will be half an hour before the start of the day’s examination, and will enable us to demonstrate the strength of public feeling against this appalling plan. Our aim is to have a giant ‘team photo’ outside the front of…

ADD UPDATE, 31 October 2019: A Bishopstoke-based professional artist is so incensed by Eastleigh’s Local Plan that he has donated a beautiful painting (above) to support ADD’s fundraising efforts as we prepare our case for the Planning Inspector’s examination, which starts on 21 November. For Paul Stratton of East Drive, who has lived in the village all his life, the countryside and woodlands near his home are an inspiration for many of his pictures. The 16 x 20 inch (40 cm x 50 cm) framed oil painting he has contributed shows Bishopstoke Woods as seen from Upper Barn Copse. The view would disappear if the Local Plan went ahead, even though the area has one of the highest levels of bio-diversity in the borough. Paul’s…

ADD UPDATE, 11 October 2019: From 21 November until the end of January the Independent Planning Inspector will be conducting multiple hearings to assess the viability of Eastleigh’s Local Plan. ADD has been working hard towards this examination and with thanks to your generous support have hired planning, environmental, traffic and legal experts to ensure the case against the current plan is well fought. In addition to supplying the expert information we need to make sure the Inspector understands the strength of public feeling against this unsustainable and unworkable plan. We want to demonstrate just how much we care! So on Friday 22 November we are asking for ADD’s Army to turn out in force and show the valid concerns amongst the local community. If you…

ADD UPDATE, 4 October 2019: Several of our supporters received yesterday an invitation from Richard Eastham of Feria Urbanism, an urban planning consultancy employed by Eastleigh Borough Council, “to take part in a series of workshop events to develop the design and planning ideas” for the Strategic Growth Option (SGO) in Eastleigh’s proposed Local Plan, namely the land north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak which has been earmarked for around 5,300 new homes and new estate road (see Feria’s map above).  But wait a minute. Isn’t this all be a bit premature? As one of our Eastleigh-based supporters told us: “Eastleigh’s shocking proposals haven’t yet been approved by the Planning Inspector. Indeed, her examination doesn’t start until 21 November and the result won’t be known…

ADD UPDATE, 30 September 2019: Last week, Christa Masters, the Planning Inspector for Eastleigh’s Local Plan, published her initial questions regarding Eastleigh’s proposed plan – her so-called ‘Schedule of Matters and Issues for the Examination’. And she has a lot of questions – more than 220 of them! Ms Masters’ examination will be held at the Botleigh Grange Hotel in Hedge End, starting on Thursday 21 November and running for six weeks. Her initial questions are grouped under six headings, as follows: Legal and Procedural requirements Vision and Objectives, the Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment Strategic Policies, Spatial Strategy and distribution of development Meeting housing need, the housing requirement, housing land supply, five year supply and affordable housing Strategic growth option (Options B and…

Open letter to Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, from Annette Lodge, Chair of St Francis Animal Welfare, 10 September 2019: “Dear Councillor House, Staff, volunteers and Trustees of St Francis Animal Welfare (SFAW) shelter are desperately worried about the proposed huge housing development in Local Plan Options B&C; if permitted, this would come very close to the shelter and make our lives extremely difficult if not impossible. Now we have an application from Mortimers Farm across the road and we are being encroached on from all sides. Frankly it is shocking that Eastleigh and the developers have ignored the problems we will face with the Local Plan Options B & C, if approved…” To read the full letter click here.

ADD UPDATE: 24 August 2019: The government should discourage personal vehicle use to meet its legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to a report published last week by the Commons Science and Technology Select committee. In its report, the cross-party committee makes clear that progress towards the 2050 target is slow and being inhibited by various government actions and inactions. Although it did not mention Eastleigh by name, the borough council’s Local Plan is a textbook illustration of the kind of policies that the report makes clear would guarantee the UK misses its carbon-reduction targets. Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) may have recently declared a climate emergency  but it is showing itself to be part of the problem rather than the solution.   …

ADD UPDATE, 20 August 2019: At long last, we have dates for the Planning Inspector’s examination of Eastleigh’s Local Plan. The hearing sessions will open on Thursday 21 November and run for a period of six weeks. Below is an email sent yesterday by Louise St John Howe, the Programme Officer, with all the details. As you will read, the Inspector, Christa Masters, will publish her statement of Matters, Issues and Questions – which will make clear what she intends to focus on to determine if Eastleigh’s Plan is sound – during the week commencing 23 September. Once she has done this, we will give guidance to our supporters on what to expect, how to follow proceedings and what further assistance, if any, we may…

Hampshire Chronicle, 4 August 2019: PROPOSALS for development between Eastleigh and Colden Common are still dividing planners. Eastleigh Borough Council wants to see a chunk of development on countryside between Bishopstoke/Fair Oak and Colden Common, with more than 5,000 new homes and new link road between Allbrook Hill, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. The area abuts the boundary of the Winchester district, with the proposed road cutting into Winchester. A Statement of Common Ground has been drawn up by the two authorities stating each authority’s position for submission to a planning inspector who will examine the Eastleigh Local Plan. In this document, Winchester has raised several concerns about Eastleigh’s proposals for the area.

ADD UPDATE, 18 July 2019: To anyone who came of age in the 1960s, Eastleigh’s Local Plan has an eerily retro feel to it. In those days, no one had heard of sustainable development or global warming. The car was king, you measured your success in life by the number and value of ‘motors’ in your front drive and you only used public transport or the bicycle if that was all you could afford. Extinction Rebellion were probably just a whacky new rock group and, as for Greta Thunberg, her parents hadn’t even been born. Fast forward to 2019, and Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) don’t seem to realise that times have moved on. It is truly shocking that any authority – let alone one that…

ADD UPDATE, 25 June 2019: Several ADD supporters have recently asked about the progress of our campaign to defeat Eastleigh’s Local Plan, and the likely timing of Planning Inspector’s examination of the plan. Since its formal submission to Whitehall last October, the Planning Inspector has highlighted numerous areas of missing evidence and asked the council to fill these gaps as quickly as possible. The council committed to completing this task by last Friday (21 June) but, due to problems with their website (again), these new reports have still not been released to the public. Given the ongoing delays to this process, we now think the Examination in Public won’t start before October – at the earliest. While the council continues to try and produce evidence…

Letter to the Hampshire Chronicle, 14 June 2019:  THE environmental threats to the River Itchen, and potential solutions, were recently highlighted by BBC’s Countryfile. Whilst reporting on the controversy over food company Bakkavor’s release of chemicals in the river at Alresford, the BBC also said many farmers were acting on environmental concerns. A river keeper has highlighted another danger in a letter to the Chronicle this week. As he writes: “Unfortunately, there is another, darker side to the picture – plans by Eastleigh Borough Council to build thousands of houses on land that drains, via a network of feeder streams, directly into the River Itchen. If these plans ever go ahead, the damage would more than cancel out all the advances highlighted in the programme.”

Eastleigh News, 20 May 2019: The newly elected councillor for West End South has told how he became ‘a little hot under the collar’ when heard of plans to ‘pave over vast swathes of the green belt’ in Oxfordshire. Liberal Democrat Tim Bearder who is both a West End parish councillor and a borough councillor for West End South also sits as a county councillor in Oxfordshire where he is opposed to South Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan. In an article published in the Oxford Times last month Councillor Bearder warned South Oxfordshire’s Local Plan would result in a ‘catastrophic level of construction.” ADD have accused him of “double standards” in supporting Eastleigh’s Local Plan while opposing the Local Plan in his home county.

Mims Davies MP, 16 May 2019: The Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, Mims Davies, has urged her constituents to make sure that their voice is heard over the local council’s delayed Local Plan after Eastleigh Borough Council were forced into launching a new six-week consultation on over forty sites proposed for development across the Borough within the proposed Local Plan. The consultation comes after Eastleigh Borough Council was reprimanded by the Independent Planning Inspectorate in March for failing to properly consult on the proposed sites. The new consultation has already faced criticism after residents were unable to complete the consultation online, while the form on the website provided no details of where it should be sent once completed.

Eastleigh News, 16 May 2019: Bishopstoke Parish Council have complained that Eastleigh Borough Council have failed to send them notifications of planning applications in the parish. At last night’s meeting of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committee the chair of Bishopstoke Parish Council – Councillor Sue Toher (pictured) – addressed the local area borough councillors on behalf of the Bishopstoke Parish Planning Committee. Cllr Toher told the committee that since last July there had been seven instances when the Parish Council had either not received a notification or else they had received notifications for Fair Oak Parish council rather than Bishopstoke – in one case she said, they had received an application eight days after the closing date.

ADD UPDATE, 9 May 2019: We have no right to complain about other countries destroying their environment when we are planning to do the same here in Eastleigh through the council’s proposed Local Plan… A report published on Monday from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (IPBES), an agency of the United Nations, warns that one million animal and plant species across the world are now threatened with extinction. The report has taken three years to compile and draws on 15,000 reference materials. From the bees that pollinate our crops to the forests that hold back flood waters, the key factor in the threat to the natural world is human activity ravaging the very ecosystems that support human society. The destruction of rain forests…

ADD UPDATE, 7 May 2019: Allbrook hosts one of Eastleigh’s most valuable heritage assets, but little has been done to promote its awareness. Now the council’s Local Plan threatens to degrade it further. Allbrook Farmhouse was less than ten years old when artist Mary Beale and her husband Charles moved there in 1665 to escape the Great Plague in London. Unusually, it was Mary who earned the family’s living, from her portrait painting, while Charles supported her by managing the studio. This relationship is reflected in Mary’s ‘Essay on Friendship’, promoting equality of the sexes, also written in Allbrook.  Her self-portrait, now in the National Portrait Gallery, was painted there and it is likely that many of her sitters’ portraits were painted there too. Quite…

Steve Brine MP, 6 May 2019: Winchester & Chandler’s Ford MP Steve Brine has written to the likely new leader of Winchester City Council in the aftermath of last week’s local election results. Cllr Lucille Thompson is expected to form a new Liberal Democrat administration and the MP says he is keen to get early clarification about their approach to Eastleigh Borough Council’s controversial Local Plan process. Mr Brine says: “There are grave concerns among many people about the impact of Eastleigh’s Local Plan on the communities I represent. They rightly want to know whether the now Lib Dem led Winchester will stand up to Lib Dem Eastleigh on behalf of our district or change the position held by the previous council leader.”

ADD UPDATE, 28 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and…

ADD UPDATE, 28 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections this Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council (WCC), to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress.  With five days to go until the elections, 16 candidates have replied. We thank them for doing so. Significantly, several key candidates have yet to respond and not a single candidate has so far been willing to publicly support Eastleigh’s Local Plan…  What have your candidates said? In summary, 11 out of the 64 EBC candidates have responded. They, together with their statements, are as follows: DEAN Ray, Independent…

ADD UPDATE, 27 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s…

ADD UPDATE, 26 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 26 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 24 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 23 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 21 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 21 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 18 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 18 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 18 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation was extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. As you will be aware, EBC voted to include ‘options B and C’ in its Local Plan, namely proposals for around 5,500 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford…

ADD UPDATE, 18 April 2019: Ahead of the local elections on 2 May, Action against Destructive Development (ADD) is inviting each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), and each candidate standing for Winchester City Council, to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s draft Local Plan and its progress. The same invitation is extended to candidates in the parish/town council elections in our area. The ADD campaign has always been, and remains, politically neutral, working with anyone who shares the view that EBC’s draft Local Plan would be destructive if implemented. As in previous elections, we are therefore not endorsing any candidate. Instead, we hope to provide the electorate with a means by which they can compare candidates’ statements…

ADD UPDATE, 5 April 2019: Many thanks to a sharp-eyed ADD supporter for drawing attention to an important letter from the planning inspector appointed to consider Eastleigh’s Local Plan, which he found buried on the council’s website. The letter, sent by Christa Masters to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) on 20 March, highlights a long list of gaps in the evidence supporting the Local Plan. Her comments resonate with the views of opponents of the Plan who have long argued that EBC’s decision to adopt it was taken without the necessary evidence. The inspector’s letter to EBC identifies five broad areas where the council needs to do more work: 1) Duty to Co-operate with neighbouring authorities. In particular, it mentions the need to develop common ground…

BBC, 28 March 2019: A group of celebrities have come together in a campaign based on Wind in the Willows to encourage people to save the UK’s wildlife. A special film trailer for The Wind in the Willows story has been released by The Wildlife Trusts starring Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate, Alison Steadman and Asim Chaudhry – but it’s not the story as you know it. The animation shows characters from the much-loved children’s book, like Toad, Badger and Moly, falling into hardship as diggers knock down ancient trees, new roads are constructed and glorious rivers polluted. Think of Eastleigh’s DISASTROUS Local Plan when you watch. It’s not too late to DEFEAT this Plan… It’s not too late to SAVE OUR WILDLIFE.

ADD UPDATE, 1 MARCH 2019: Regular visitors of our website will be aware that Chris Packham grew up in our part of Hampshire, and is one of ADD’s strongest supporters. You may also be aware that Packham recently launched the Wild Justice action group with the aim of prosecuting local authorities that cause unnecessary damage to wildlife. Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) had better watch out because he has already described their Local Plan, which will be scrutinised by an appointed planning inspector in the next few months, as “eco-vandalism”. Yet his relationship with EBC used to be such a happy one. Back in 2002 he wrote a foreword to the council’s publication “Wild about Eastleigh”, in which he congratulated EBC on taking “the important step of banding together…

ADD UPDATE, 15 February 2019: A MESSAGE TO ADD’S SUPPORTERS… together we shall win! You may have noticed that we have been rather quiet since the end of 2018, but please be assured that ADD is working as hard as ever to defend Eastleigh, its environment and that of neighbouring parishes from the Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s dreadful Local Plan. Most of our efforts have been behind the scenes as we prepare for the Planning Inspector’s examination of the draft Plan, which will determine whether or not we are successful. This will probably take place in the spring or early summer, though the recent decision by the government to appoint a new inspector may delay matters. We have been very heartened by the continuing messages of support…

Hampshire Chronicle, 22 November 2018: The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire has received a wave of support ahead of the decision on whether to support the adoption of a South Hampshire green belt to protect the remaining green spaces between Eastleigh, Southampton, Fareham and Portsmouth. [TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE CRUCIAL PETITION, CLICK HERE.] The Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) will decide on adopting a South Hampshire Green Belt on December 4. Charlee Bennett, chief executive of the CPRE said: “We know local authorities are up against it. Government housing targets are increasing and the pressure to deliver is huge. This is why we are delighted that the PUSH leaders have been supportive so far. “We know that at the meeting on the…

ADD UPDATE, 14 November 2018: As some of our supporters are aware, Rob Byrne, a local resident, has been been planning a guided walk in Otterbourne Woods with a fungus expert on 24 November. We have been asked to let people know that sadly this event has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Given the success of a similar ‘bat walk’ in September, we hope other such events will be arranged in the future.

ADD UPDATE, 21 October 2018: At a meeting last Thursday Eastleigh Borough Council voted to approve its Local Plan, despite all the holes identified by locals and expert bodies during the consultation period over the summer. This Plan, which includes proposals for 5,300 new houses on the green fields between Colden Common, Upham, Fair Oak and Bishopstoke, will now be sent to Whitehall for scrutiny by an independent Planning Inspector. John Lauwerys, chair of ADD, spoke at Thursday’s meeting. For the benefit of our many supporters, we share his summary and his speech below.  SUMMARY OF THE MEETING  “I attended the council meeting on Thursday 18 October. There weren’t many people in the audience. Eastleigh Lib Dems, under their leader Keith House [pictured], had clearly been told not to…

ADD UPDATE, 28 September 2018: We are hugely grateful to all those supporters who objected to the Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) draft Local Plan in the summer or have helped us in other ways. We have been really encouraged by the massive number of objections and by their breadth and quality. True to form, EBC is delaying their publication until the last possible moment. We do know, though, that they include several statutory consultees such as the Environment Agency and Winchester City Council, both of whom declared Eastleigh’s Plan unsound. We are even more convinced that we can defeat this cynical scheme, which would cause massive damage to the environment and a huge increase in traffic congestion without actually helping Eastleigh families onto the housing…

ADD UPDATE, 11 August 2018 – A message to all supporters now the pre-submission consultation period is over: A big ‘thank you’ to the hundreds of residents who’ve shown their support for ADD during this crucial time – especially those who’ve registered objections to the Local Plan during the recent consultation period and contributed to our fighting fund. We know that many supporters found the Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) website incredibly frustrating, with an estimated 500 people unable to log their comments at one stage. We really appreciate the patience and perseverance of all those who persisted until they were successful. Links to ADD’s response to the consultation, which like everyone else’s will be sent to the planning inspector, are below. You’ll see that it’s…

ADD UPDATE, 7 August 2018: Further to last night’s decision by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) to extend its Local Plan consultation to midnight tomorrow, 8 August, ADD’s chairman, John Lauwerys (above), had the email exchange below with EBC’s CEO Nick Tustian today. The bottom line is that if, like many people, you’ve been unable to submit your views because of system ‘errors’, and you’re concerned your views will not be registered, you should contact Mr Tustian immediately (see details below). Email from John Lauwerys to Nick Tustian, 7 August 2018, 09:15 Subject: EBC draft local plan Reg.19 consultation Dear Mr Tustian, I rang your office yesterday to speak to you about the ‘crash’ of the EBC Local Plan consultation website, which is of great concern.…

ADD UPDATE, 6 August 2018: Eastleigh Borough Council’s online form for Local Plan representations has crashed, perhaps because of the deluge of objectors! The council has therefore extended its consultation deadline from midnight tonight to midnight on Wednesday, 8 August. To view the council’s announcement, click here. If, like many people, you have tried and failed to submit your representation, don’t give up – try again tomorrow. Alternatively, if you have not had time to submit a representation, please use this extra time to do so. Here’s how. If you have had problems with the online form, either with submitting your representation, saving your draft or uploading documents/images (or something else), please email us so we can understand the scale of the problem. Thanks to everyone…

ADD REMINDER, 2 August 2018: ONLY FOUR DAYS TO GO UNTIL EASTLEIGH’S LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION ENDS (AT MIDNIGHT ON 6 AUGUST). HERE IS A REMINDER OF WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO MAKE YOUR VIEWS HEARD. WE NEED EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE. PLEASE SET ASIDE TIME TO DO SO. You’ll recall that after we posted our initial guidance on submitting representations, two things happened. Firstly, several people told us the whole process was too complicated. Secondly, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) listened to our criticisms about their online form and made several important improvements. As a result, while our template [blank; with sample response] remains a valid way of submitting a representation, EBC’s form may now be the easier option. While EBC’s online form may still look mind bogglingly complicated,…

ADD UPDATE, 1 August 2018: You may recall that in January local writers Amanda Oosthuizen and Louise Taylor launched a website – Words for the Wild – to compile stories and poems about the countryside. What’s more, they kindly suggested their website should form the basis of an anthology which they would publish in support of the ADD campaign. Since January, Words for the Wild has published pieces by over 100 writers from four continents. Some are established and well-known, others are relative newcomers but all are united by their concern for the dwindling wild spaces and places of our world. As they promised, Amanda and Louise have now launched Words for the Wild’s first print anthology, with all profits going to ADD’s fighting fund. Priced…

ADD UPDATE, 30 July 2018: One of our key supporters – an expert angler – has produced a great video showing the threat to the River Itchen from sediment run-off. The area he visited is a development of 60 houses in Bishopstoke, the Chase, and his video gives a very clear idea of what might happen if plans for 1,000 extra houses adjacent to the Chase, and 4,300 other houses north of Fair Oak (Eastleigh council’s so-called ‘options B and C’ of its Local Plan), were allowed to go ahead. The potential irreparable damage to ‘probably the most iconic chalk stream in the world’, as it was described in a World Wildlife fund report, must not be allowed to happen – and we continue to do…

To all residents of Chandler’s Ford: your Parish Council will be holding an Extraordinary Meeting on Monday 30 July to discuss Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan. Please attend! The meeting will be held at 7.30pm at the Fryern Pavilion, Greenways. Chandler’s Ford. The Motion, proposed by Cllr Ricketts, will be: “Having had sight of the Draft Local Plan it is noticeable that Chandler’s Ford (CF) would be subjected to increased traffic congestion and pollution, as the Plan includes a major new link road from the large development [of 5,300 new houses] north of Bishopstoke to Junction 12 of the M3 (CF and Eastleigh). This road is expected to carry 26,000 vehicles a day. The knock-on effect would be much increased queueing on the approaches to…

Hampshire Chronicle, 23 July 2018: RESIDENTS in Otterbourne turned out for a packed meeting to voice objections to plans to build 5,200 new homes on the border between Winchester and Eastleigh. Otterbourne Parish Council, which – like NINE other parish councils – opposes the plans, invited John Lauwerys of ADD to give a talk instructing residents of the best way to object. ADD has so far raised £60,000 to hire a team of experts to battle the plans which will see a town the size of three Colden Commons built near ancient woodland between Fair Oak and Bishopstoke. Amongst other things, Mr Lauwerys pointed out the proposed new link road to the M3, via the Allbrook railway bridge, would cause traffic chaos in the area.

Message from Bishopstoke Parish Council, 20 July 2018: In order to help formulate Bishopstoke Parish Council’s response to Eastleigh’s Local Plan, the council will be holding a Community Listening Exercise for residents to share their views at 7.30pm on Friday 27 July. Here is a message below from Cllr Sue Toher, chair of the council (pictured above), with the details: “Bishopstoke Parish Council is holding a Community Listening Exercise on Friday 27 July at Bishopstoke Community Centre. The Centre will be open from 7.00pm and the meeting will start at 7.30pm. The aim is for the parish council to hear the views of local residents on the current version of the Local Plan, which we hope you have been able to see at the recent…

ADD UPDATE, 19 July 2018: Since we posted our guidance on submitting representations on the Local Plan last week, two things have happened. Firstly, several people have told us the whole process remains too complicated. And secondly, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) have listened to our criticisms about their online form and made several important improvements. As a result, while our template [link] remains a valid way of submitting a representation, EBC’s form may now be the easier option. While EBC’s online form may still look mind bogglingly complicated, it is actually a lot simpler and quicker than it looks. A few vital tips: You do not have to answer all or even many of the questions. The main thing is that you are seen to make…

Campaign Against Urban Sprawl in Essex (CAUSE) welcomes the recent letter from the Planning Inspector about the North Essex Garden Communities Plan. In the letter Mr Roger Clews raises a number of problems with the Plan, concluding that it is unsound, and that the proposals have not been shown to have a reasonable prospect of being viably developed. The letter highlights shortcomings including major flaws in the viability appraisal of the proposals, including failure to deal adequately with transport infrastructure costs, weaknesses in the deliverability of affordable housing and no feasibility study or costing of mass rapid transit options.

ADD GUIDE, 10 July 2018: Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan 2016-2036 has now entered the public consultation stage.  This is the part of the formal process where the Council must seek the comments of residents, interested groups and statutory consultees (e.g., Hampshire County Highways; the Environment Agency) on whether the Plan is sound, and whether the Council has met its legal requirements in terms of the 2012 Local Planning Regulations.  A Planning Inspector will review the Plan and consider the comments that have been submitted, provided these are deemed valid. The object of this guide is therefore to help you submit a valid representation (before the deadline of midnight on 6 August). If you care about the future of the borough, it is very…

ADD UPDATE, 6 July 2018: In our post of 23 June – ‘Eastleigh publishes Local Plan – CRUCIAL final consultation launched. Reality bites. Action required!‘ – we said we would post guidance today on how to make valid representations to the Planning Inspector on the soundness and legal compliance of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan. However, over the last couple of weeks, it has become apparent that EBC has decided to abandon the Planning Inspectorate’s standard guidelines on how members of the public and expert bodies should make representations – and adopt a new online system. We’ll post our advice as soon as we’ve digested this new system. Stay tuned!

ADD UPDATE, 23 June 2018: Eastleigh Borough Council has just confirmed with us that all documents relating to its Local plan, including the supporting evidence, have now been published on its website. Click here for its ‘new and updated evidence base’. This fires the starting pistol for a six week ‘Reg 19’ consultation period, which will run until midnight on Monday 6 August. We urge everyone opposed to Eastleigh’s shocking Plan, individuals and organisations alike, to submit their representations against it. Please note – and this is IMPORTANT – that any representations MUST relate to the ‘soundness’ of the plan. The ADD team, together with all our professional advisers, are already ploughing through the documents to assess the council’s evidence. We will post guidance on…

Eastleigh News, 20 June 2018: Campaigners opposed to the construction of thousands of homes on countryside north of Bishopstoke say they are “delighted” to have been given the support of a butterfly conservation group. A spokesperson for ADD told Eastleigh News that Butterfly Conservation was the latest group “to add to the long list of organisations concerned about Eastleigh council’s plans to devastate the most environmentally sensitive parts of the borough.” But responding, Council Leader Keith House said he is “confident” the new development will “increase bio-diversity” not diminish it. Butterfly Conservation say surveys carried out 10 years ago show the site chosen by Eastleigh council for 5,200 houses has previously supported a diverse variety of butterfly habitats and could still be home to even more species.

ADD UPDATE, 15 June 2018: Butterfly Conservation, the charity devoted to saving butterflies, moths and their habitats throughout the UK, has added its concern for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan. Steve Wheatley, Butterfly Conservation’s Senior Regional Officer for South East England, told us: “The land on which EBC plans to build 5,200 houses and a new road [just north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak] is currently a really lovely area with a nice variety of habitats. 25 different butterfly species have been recorded in this area and several more butterfly species have been recorded nearby. “A butterfly survey was walked in this area for fifteen years (1994 to 2008) as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). This highlighted the presence of these…

ADD UPDATE, 9 June 2018: Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan, which includes the development of 5,200 new houses in countryside north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, has drawn severe criticism from many quarters for its lack of soundness. As the long list of opponents from many walks of life point out, it is simply unsustainable and undeliverable. Owslebury, just outside Eastleigh in Winchester, is one local village that is up in arms about the Plan’s significant failings, particularly with regards to transport infrastructure, and the way in which decisions have been made. Owslebury villagers have sent ADD this video (below) that they have made to broaden awareness within their community about the Plan’s failings from their perspective and to campaign against it. We thought it…

ADD UPDATE, 29 May 2018: Would you and your family and friends like to be official Guinness world record breakers? If so, now is your chance! Come and support our campaign and be part of an official attempt to break the Guinness world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as trees (currently 1,000 people!). The purpose of the event is to have fun – and to draw attention to the terminal threat posed to our seven ancient woodlands by Eastleigh’s Local Plan (click on map here). When: Saturday 7 July 2018 – 1.30pm to 3.00pm Where: Stoke Park Junior School, Underwood Road, Bishopstoke, Hampshire, SO50 6GR Dress according to Guinness guidelines: brown trousers, green top and headdress with branches and leaves on it (these can be fake or the real thing) – see picture above. Alternatively,…

Daily Echo, 4 May 2018: THE Liberal Democrats have again emerged as the winners on Eastleigh Borough Council with a landslide victory in yesterday’s election. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, as they lost all three seats in Bishopstoke to Independent candidates with deputy leader Anne Winstanley being one of the Lib Dems to lose out. After the count, which saw all 39 councillors up for election, the Lib Dems have won 32 seats to the Conservatives’ four, along with three Independents. Jubilant Independent candidates: Lou Parker Jones (who won the most votes, pictured), Ray Dean and Gin Tidridge said they were expecting such a result and felt overwhelmed with the support they had received. Watch video of Independents celebrating being elected to Eastleigh Borough Council!

ADD UPDATE, 1 May 2018: Ahead of the local elections this Thursday, 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s…

ADD UPDATE, 30 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections this Thursday, 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s…

ADD UPDATE, 29 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 29 April 2018: Ahead of the all-out Eastleigh Borough Council election THIS THURSDAY, 3 MAY – when every member of the council is up for re-election – we thought it was worth reminding everyone which councillors voted FOR or AGAINST the borough’s Local Plan at the key meeting last December. At this meeting, the council voted – without having all the necessary supporting evidence – to approve a Local Plan that includes the development of 5,200 new houses north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke and a new road running from Mortimers Lane, Fair Oak in the east to Highbridge Road, Allbrook and the M3 in the west. Below is how each councillor voted last December. PLEASE USE YOUR VOTE WISELY THIS THURSDAY! Bishopstoke Councillors:…

ADD UPDATE, 26 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 26 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

Letter to the Echo from Graham Mole, Bishopstoke, 25 April 2018: This letter, about Eastleigh’s Local Plan and Hampshire’s water shortage, appeared in the Daily Echo last week. (Disclaimer: ADD tries to publish as many opinions as possible about Eastleigh’s Local Plan. This article does not necessarily represent the views of ADD. Rather, it is published, like others, in order to show the various perspectives that inform the debate.) Under the heading “Will new homes wreck the River Itchen?”, Graham Mole’s letter read: “HOW on earth is Southern Water going to supply over 5,000 new homes without wrecking the world famous River Itchen? It’s already admitted to a government enquiry that in just two years’ time the company won’t have enough water to go round. And…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

Daily Mail, 25 April 2018: This article, about Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s plans for 5,200 houses and a new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, has been published in the Daily Mail. (Disclaimer: The article does not necessarily represent the views of ADD. Rather, it is published, like others, in order to show the various perspectives that inform the debate.) The article starts: “Stoke Park Wood in Eastleigh, south Hampshire, is home to hundreds of acres of ancient forest, wildlife and trickling streams. Aside from an occasional dog walker or horse rider, there is hardly anyone around on the muddy bridle path on the edge of the woods. It’s bitterly cold, but with the sun shining it’s hard to imagine a more perfect location for…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 24 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 23 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 23 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 22 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE, 21 April 2018: Ahead of the local elections on 3 May, ADD has invited each candidate standing for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) and Winchester City Council – as well as in the parish elections in Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common & Twyford and Owslebury – to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on EBC’s Local Plan. As you will be aware, on 11 December last year, EBC chose ‘options B and C’ for its Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford and Bishop’s Waltham.…

ADD UPDATE: 13 April 2018: A government inquiry last month heard that in two years’ time Southern Water might not have enough water to supply even the current households, let alone the more than 5,000 homes planned by Eastleigh Borough Council in its draft Local Plan. Moreover, fixing the problem would leave Southern Water’s customers facing huge new bills. In a statement, Southern Water told the inquiry its only solution was to spend a billion pounds on alternative sources such as either a new reservoir or a desalinisation plant, or maybe both. But the company made clear the money could only come from its customers. The inquiry was held to hammer out just how much water the company could take from both the Test and Itchen…

Letter to Hampshire Chronicle, 12 April 2018: The Hampshire Chronicle has today published this letter from Geoff Naylor of Colden Common about the threat posed by Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan to the Woodland Trust’s bluebell woods in Eastleigh. Geoff Naylor wrote: “SIR: Bluebells will flower later than normal this year. This is because of the recent ‘beast from the east’ cold weather. They are likely to be at their best at the time of the local council elections on May 3. One of the most spectacular bluebell woods open to the public, around the south Hampshire conurbation, is Upper Barn Copse, owned by the Woodland Trust. This ancient woodland is easily accessible on public footpaths from Fair Oak and Bishopstoke. However, this spring may…

ADD UPDATE, 10 April 2018: The Woodland Trust has for some time been extremely concerned about Eastleigh Borough Council’s draft Local Plan. By way of example, click here for a transcript of the statement the Trust asked local campaigner Rob Byrne to read to the councillors at the council meeting on 11 December last year. At this meeting, Eastleigh council voted for a Plan that includes 5,200 new houses and a new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. In the last few weeks, in the wake of the government’s recent announcement to give increased protection to our precious ancient woodlands, ADD campaigners have been back in touch with the Trust who report that their concerns have in no way diminished – in fact they remain…

ADD UPDATE, 8 April 2018: As ADD supporters will be aware, there has been widespread praise for the government’s recent announcement to give increased protection to our precious ancient woodlands. The new draft of the National Planning Policy Framework now states that “development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons”. Click here for the Woodland Trust’s view. Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan threatens no less than seven ancient woodlands, engulfing five in concrete and flanking a further two. See map here. There are no (legitimate) wholly exceptional reasons for doing so. The government’s new clarity on protection for ancient woodland makes Eastleigh’s Local Plan look more unworkable than ever.

ADD UPDATE, 6 April 2018: There are local elections on Thursday 3 May for Eastleigh Borough Council and Winchester City Council. On the same day, there are also several parish elections, including for Allbrook and North Boyatt, Chandler’s Ford, Hiltingbury, Colden Common and Owslebury. The ADD campaign is supported by members of all political parties as well as by local residents who do not support any political party. The ADD campaign has always been, and remains, politically neutral, working with anyone who shares the view that Eastleigh Borough Council’s draft Local Plan would be destructive if implemented. ADD will not be endorsing or supporting any candidate in the elections. Eastleigh’s draft Local Plan will be a key issue in these elections for local people. ADD’s coordinator…

Statement from the Member of Parliament for Eastleigh Mims Davies, 30 March 2018: After last week’s letter from Secretary of State Sajid Javid to Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, about Eastleigh’s Local Plan failure, Eastleigh MP Mims Davies issued this statement. We have printed it below: “Eastleigh Borough Council has done just enough to avoid a major intervention by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid. The Secretary of State is now continuing to keep an eye on and monitor the Council’s progress due to its persistent failure to put a Local Plan in place over many years to protect the community, environment and reflect local housing need. In a strong letter to the Council, the Secretary of…

Letter from Housing Minister Sajid Javid to Eastleigh Borough Council Leader Keith House, 29 March 2018: ADD supporters will be interested to know that this letter was sent by Sajid Javid to Keith House last Friday, 23 March. We have also printed it below: “Dear Councillor House, LOCAL PLAN INTERVENTION Following your Council’s persistent failure over many years to get a Local Plan in place, on 16 November 2017, I expressed concerns about the lack of progress your authority has made on plan-making. The housing White Paper set out that intervention in Local Plans will be prioritised where: the least progress in plan-making has been made policies in plans had not been kept up to date there was higher housing pressure; and intervention would have…

Colden Common & Twyford Focus, Spring 2018: “New Lib Dem candidate for Colden Common & Twyford, Hannah Williams, has made it clear that she strongly backs Richard Izard’s opposition to Eastleigh’s current plans for development,” says this month’s Lib Dem Colden Common & Twyford Focus. To view an image of the article, click here. Alternatively,  we have printed it below: “New Lib Dem candidate for Colden Common & Twyford, Hannah Williams, has made it clear that she strongly backs Richard Izard’s opposition to Eastleigh’s current plans for development. Richard attended and spoke out at both the July 2017 and December 2017 public meetings opposing the proposals to build on Sites B & C [namely Eastleigh Borough Council’s plans for 5,200 new houses and a new…

ADD UPDATE, 22 March 2018: Last week, Sarah Charters, a resident of Bishopstoke, sent an official letter of complaint to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) accusing Liberal Democrat councillors of misleading local people about Eastleigh’s Local Plan in their leaflets and social media. She addressed her letter to Richard Ward, EBC’s monitoring officer, and – in the accompanying Code of Conduct documentation – specifically cited Cllrs Trevor Mignot, Vickieye Parkinson and Anne Winstanley (the latter two pictured with Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats) for criticism. We posted her letter on 16 March and said we would also publish any reply. On Tuesday, 20 March, Sarah Charters received the following reply for Richard Ward: STARTS Subject: RE: Complaint Against Cllrs Trevor Mignot, Vickieye Parkinson and…

ADD DISCLAIMER, 19 March 2018: In the last few weeks, ADD has been made aware of a Twitter account under the name ‘Keith buildaHouse’, which refers to the leader of Eastleigh Borough Council and the draft Eastleigh Local Plan. ADD wishes to make clear that this account has no connection to our campaign and we have no knowledge of who is behind it.

ADD UPDATE, 16 March 2018: Sarah Charters, a resident of Bishopstoke, yesterday sent an official letter of complaint to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) accusing Liberal Democrat councillors of misleading local people about Eastleigh’s Local Plan in their leaflets and social media. Addressing her letter to Richard Ward, EBC’s monitoring officer, and specifically citing Cllrs Vickieye Parkinson, Anne Winstanley (both pictured with Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats) and Trevor Mignot in the formal documentation, she said: “I am writing to complain about the misleading communications being provided to the residents of Bishopstoke by Liberal Democrat Councillors through the ‘Bishopstoke Focus’ electioneering leaflets and social media. Please note that this is not a complaint about the policy being put forward, but the way in which…

ADD UPDATE, 12 March 2018: We thought the time was right to post the letter to the Daily Echo below, published on 28 December 2017, which refutes a suggestion made by Martin Kyrle, former Mayor of Eastleigh, that everyone protesting against Eastleigh’s Local Plan are “amateurs”! We thank David Betts, a parish councillor for Allbrook & North Boyatt, for standing up for the professionals opposed to, and working hard to prevent, Eastleigh’s monstrous Local Plan. Under the heading “Not so many amateurs protesting”, David Betts wrote (click here for image): “I REFER to the letter from Martin Kyrle (December 20) in which he refers to the recent Local Plan meeting at the Ageas Hilton at which Eastleigh Borough Council voted in favour of a highly…

Woodland Trust, 5 March 2018: Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to overhaul England’s planning policy that will afford ancient woodland far more robust protection. The Woodland Trust has led the charge for decades for ancient woods to be given the same protection as our manmade heritage. It is now proposed that the National Planning Policy Framework will state “development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons.” Beccy Speight, Woodland Trust CEO, said: “At last! The Government’s decision to amend planning policy to robustly – finally – protect ancient woodland is great news, and not before time.”

Letter to the Daily Echo, 23 February 2018: The letter above, about Eastleigh’s Local Plan, appeared in the Echo today. Under the heading “Not just one scandal…”, it reads: “EASTLEIGH Borough Council’s plan to build 5,200 houses across a vast swathe of pristine rural landscape with no infrastructure has caused quite a scandal. I suggest that this complex issue is really three separate scandals. Firstly, the planning decision made by the council is the worst possible choice because it provides the least public benefit at the greatest public cost. They chose to ignore an urban fringe site with potential for a railway station and a motorway junction and instead decided to destroy a beautiful and biodiverse rural area with no sustainable infrastructure. This is a…

Eastleigh News, 21 February 2018: Eastleigh’s MP has revealed a brown field site ‘in the centre of Eastleigh’ – currently owned by Network Rail – could be re-developed for housing. In a press release Mims Davies describes a recent meeting with roads minister Jesse Norman in which she presented the case for a Chickenhall Lane link road. During the meeting she says officials set out why bidding for funding to support the proposed road had so far ‘been unsuccessful’. One of the reasons was that the Network Rail land could potentially be used for housing. So far, however, Eastleigh council has ignored this opportunity and instead chosen green fields north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (known as options B and C) for its Local Plan.

Daily Echo, 21 February 2018: AN ACTION group has hit out at the leader of the Lib Dems for backing plans on thousands of new homes near ancient woodland. Members of Action against Destructive Development Eastleigh (ADD) said Vince Cable “talked complete nonsense about local issues” when he visited Eastleigh last week. As previously reported, during his visit, Sir Vince met town bosses and backed their Local Plan to meet the housing need across the borough. These include proposals to build 5,200 new homes near ancient woodland between Fair Oak and Bishopstoke. ADD said: “Cable is an honourable man, but we do not imagine that he has had time to study the borough’s Local Plan and the evidence (or lack of) to support it.”

ADD UPDATE, 14 February 2018: Although ADD is fiercely politically neutral, it reserves the right to speak out when a politician of any persuasion talks complete nonsense about local issues. On a visit to Eastleigh last week, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable made some outrageously misleading comments about the council’s plans to submerge the villages of Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Allbrook and wreak havoc on the natural environment. Cable is an honourable man, but we do not imagine that he has had time to study the borough’s Local Plan and the evidence (or lack of) to support it. We can safely assume that, when he spoke to the Daily Echo, he was repeating in good faith what he had been told by party colleagues in…

Daily Echo, 9 February 2018: THE leader of the Libs Dems has waded into the row over controversial plans to build 5,200 new homes on land near ancient woodland. The scheme, for land between Fair Oak and Bishopstoke, sparked  protest among residents and even led to several Lib Dem councillors quitting the party. But on a visit to Eastleigh yesterday, Mr Cable backed the council’s stance, arguing that the homes were badly needed. Mr Cable said: “The basic strategy the council has adopted seems to be right, which is to build ambitious housing developments combined with a good environmental policy.” He added new developments have “to be done in a green, sensitive manner [and] this is what I judge the council are doing.”

6 February 2018: In an open letter responding to recent leaflets from Eastleigh council’s leadership, headed by Keith House (above), residents of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak are urging locals not to believe what the council is saying about its Local Plan. Headed ‘Re-Focus’, the residents’ letter urges people to wake up to the council’s lies about its plans for 5,200 new houses and a link road in their two villages. To read the letter, see below. Please spread the word by forwarding this link or – if necessary – printing this article and distributing. The government will have to approve the council’s Local Plan later this year. Residents believe it is vital everyone knows the truth before it is too late. They urge people “to stop being hood-winked now!”…

ADD UPDATE: 1 February 2018: On 11 December 2017, Eastleigh Borough Councillors approved a draft Local Plan that includes the development of 5,200 new houses north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke and a new road running from Fair Oak in the east to Allbrook and the M3 in the west (so-called options B and C). In front of 800 aghast members of the public (and many hundreds more following on social media), they forced through a plan which – if completed – would needlessly DESTROY hundreds of acres of ancient Hampshire countryside between Eastleigh and Winchester. This shocking plan lacks critical evidence and ignores far better alternatives. To help stop this plan, sign this petition to SAVE South Hampshire’s glorious countryside NOW! Please share too!

ADD UPDATE, 19 January 2018: On 11 December 2017, Eastleigh Borough Councillors approved a draft Local Plan that includes the development of 5,200 new houses north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke and a new road running from Mortimers Lane, Fair Oak in the east to Highbridge Road, Allbrook and the M3 in the west. To read more about the meeting click here. Below is how each councillor voted: Bishopstoke Councillors: Trevor Mignot, Liberal Democrat, FOR Victoria Parkinson, Liberal Democrat, FOR Angela Roling, Liberal Democrat, left the meeting before the vote Anne Winstanley, Liberal Democrat, FOR Fair Oak and Horton Heath Councillors: Nick Couldrey, Liberal Democrat, absent as he has declared a pecuniary interest in option B Rob Rushton, Liberal Democrat, FOR Des Scott, Liberal Democrat,…

ADD UPDATE: 18 January 2018: We write with wonderful news of an initiative by local writers Amanda Oosthuizen and Louise Taylor who have launched a website to compile stories and poems about the countryside. What’s more, their website, Words for the Wild, will form the basis of an anthology that they will publish in support of the ADD campaign against Eastleigh Borough Council’s shocking Local Plan. To visit Words for the Wild, click here. Amanda Oosthuizen explains: “Words for the Wild publishes stories and poems that refer to the countryside. At the moment, work can be read on the website, with plenty more to come, and we will publish a book in the spring. People have all sorts of countryside concerns and interests, and we…

ADD UPDATE, 9 January 2018: In response to Isabelle Fraser’s article in the Daily Telegraph on 3 January, entitled “Meet the ‘Yimbys’ arguing for more homes to be built in their area”, the letter below was published in the paper this morning. Thanks to everyone’s support over the weekend, it was co-signed by Mark Lloyd, CEO of The Angling Trust; Stephen Joseph, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport; and Dees Haas, Chairman of Campaign to Protect Rural England Hampshire, plus 252 others. To view an image of the letter, see above, click here or view the Daily Telegraph’s letters page. We continue to work hard to defeat Eastleigh’s proposed Local Plan. If we stick together, we remain confident that we can do so. Eastleigh deserves better. STARTS…

ADD UPDATE, 7 January 2018: Important: to give your consent to be a co-signatory to one of our supporter’s letter to the Daily Telegraph, please ‘like’ THE COMMENT (on our Facebook page – see screenshot above), NOT THE POST ITSELF. As many of you know, one of our supporters has written a letter to the Telegraph following Wednesday’s article about Keith House, Eastleigh’s Local Plan and Yimbyism. We posted this letter as a comment on our Facebook page on Friday evening and are collating as many co-signatories as possible before sending it to the paper tomorrow morning (Monday). Together with email agreements, we are gathering an excellent number. Of course, the Telegraph may not want to publish our letter, but we can try. Thank you to…

ADD UPDATE, 5 January 2017: On 11 December, Eastleigh council leader Keith House (above) and his fellow Liberal Democrat councillors ignored the expertise and common sense of thousands and voted to pursue a Local Plan that lacks critical evidence to support its deliverability, sustainability and affordability. In front of 800 aghast members of the public (and many hundreds more following on social media), they forced through so-called options B and C of their Plan which – if completed – would deliver 5,200 new houses, well in excess of the 3,350 needed to meet the borough’s housing target in the period to 2036.  No one seems to be able to understand House’s intransigence on this issue. Can it be that his Plan is politically motivated? We…

ADD UPDATE, 16 December 2017: OUT NOW!! Only 99p – Ray Bellinger’s Local Plan Song (Save our Countryside). Available on Google Play, iTunes, Spotify and other leading digital music platforms. Thanks to Ray, all proceeds will go to the ADD campaign fund. Technical note: If you have an android phone, Google Play is preloaded. If you have an iPhone, iTunes will be preloaded. To buy on iTunes, click here. PLEASE BUY, ENJOY AND HELP SAVE OUR COUNTRYSIDE… AND SHARE SHARE SHARE. Thank you!

ADD UPDATE, 14 December 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s meeting on Monday (11 December) left ADD as convinced as ever that we can defeat the council’s proposed Local Plan. This is despite the vote going the wrong way, as we had fully expected. The occasion highlighted the extraordinary lack of evidence to justify the council’s decision and the failings in its process. This will serve us in good stead when the plan goes before the government inspector for a final decision. The meeting gave conditional approval to options B and C, which would involve 5,200 homes near Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and an environmentally catastrophic new road. Councillors also voted to give the final decision to the chief executive, who will have to assess the outstanding…

Daily Echo, 12 December 2017: CIVIC chiefs backed plans to build thousands of homes near ancient woodland in Hampshire, despite protesters claiming there was not enough evidence about the impact on environment and traffic. Councillors from Eastleigh Borough Council voted in favour of the proposed Local Plan which includes proposals for 5,200 new homes and a new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. Residents, protesters and council bosses presented their arguments during a council meeting held at the Ageas Bowl which finished at about 1am this morning. While civic chiefs said their choice is “the most logical option”, protesters and opposition councillors all agreed that “Eastleigh deserves better.” Members of ADD voiced their view by singing a song before the start of the meeting.

ADD UPDATE, 11 December 2017: This evening, 11 December, Eastleigh Borough Council will be asked to vote on its Local Plan to 2036. As our supporters know, the council’s leader, Keith House, is pressing councillors to vote in favour of a Plan that includes 5,200 new houses and an expensive new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (its options B and C). The council has two clear alternatives to deliver a major new housing development – what it calls a Strategic Growth Option (SGO). The plan north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak has always been House’s favourite, though there is little evidence to support his case. Over the last few years, many myths about Eastleigh’s Local Plan have been planted and allowed to…

ADD UPDATE, 10 DECEMBER 2017: Hampshire County Council has become the latest authority to tell Eastleigh Borough Council that it lacks sufficient evidence to make a decision on its preferred Local Plan, namely the development of 5,200 new houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (to view an annotated EBC map here). Eastleigh Borough Council is due to vote on its Plan at a key meeting tomorrow evening.  Writing earlier this month in the County Council’s position as Highway Authority for Eastleigh’s Local Plan, Stuart Jarvis Director of Economy, Transport and Environment, makes clear that he does “not believe that we are yet in a position in terms of the technical work and evidence base, to reach any final conclusions on the…

ADD UPDATE, 10 December 2017: Tomorrow is Eastleigh’s Local Plan D-Day. At a meeting at 7pm tomorrow, at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl (SO30 3XH), Eastleigh Borough Council will be making its choice on its Local Plan. In summary, it wishes to bulldoze through a half-baked plan for 5,200 new houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Allbrook, Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford, Chandler’s Ford and Bishop’s Waltham too (its options B and C – see an annotated EBC map here). If you wish to STOP the council making a BAD decision for Eastleigh, then… …WE URGE YOU TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT – WHATEVER THE WEATHER –…

Daily Echo, 8 December 2017: THE Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Eastleigh have quit their party over controversial plans to build thousands of homes near ancient woodland. Cllr Maureen Sollitt and her deputy Chris Thomas (pictured) have both quit the ruling Liberal Democrats group at Eastleigh Borough Council over concerns around the emerging local plan. This comes after councillors Steve Sollitt, Sarah Bain and Mark Balaam quit the party for the same reasons in the past few months. Eastleigh councillors are to discuss the controversial plans to build thousands of homes and a link road near ancient woodland during a full council meeting set to take place at the Ageas Bowl on December 11. Council leader Keith House said these resignations were expected.

PRESS RELEASE: EASTLEIGH INDEPENDENT LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, 8 DECEMBER 2017: Eastleigh Mayor, Cllr Maureen Sollitt and her Deputy Cllr Chris Thomas, have both quit the ruling Liberal Democrat group on Eastleigh Borough Council over concerns around the emerging Local Plan. Their move means that Eastleigh’s Liberal Democrat Group no longer have any borough councillors in Eastleigh North. Following Cllr Mark Balaam’s resignation from the administration last month, the Independent Liberal Democrat group now have five members and now hold a majority on the Eastleigh Local Area Committee. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor have resigned from the administration over their proposed plans to build a link road from Fair Oak through to Allbrook, an area both councillors represent. As well as being The Mayor, Cllr Maureen Sollitt…

PRESS RELEASE: ST FRANCIS ANIMAL WELFARE, FAIR OAK, 7 DECEMBER 2017:  St Francis Animal Welfare in Fair Oak has today issued the following statement about concerns over Eastleigh Borough Council’s plans for 5,200 new houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, namely options B and C of its emerging Local Plan: STARTS   *Heartless developers ignore Animal shelter concerns*  Staff and trustees of St Francis Animal Welfare shelter are desperately worried about plans for large new housing developments around Mortimers Lane, which, if permitted, could swallow up their shelter. Shelter manager Helen Shaw said, “We have a number of concerns. Drew Smith have actually included our land in their plan without even speaking to us. So we wrote to Phil Farminer…

Daily Echo, 6 December 2017: A COUNCILLOR has said Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan will bring “chaos and carnage” to the area. Cllr Richard Izard’s ward of Colden Common and Twyford borders where Eastleigh council wants to build thousands of new homes. The preferred options of the borough council – known as options B and C – would see 5,200 homes and a new road built to the north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. But campaigners say this will result in a “massive urban sprawl”, damaging ancient woodland and wildlife as well as increasing traffic. In response, Cllr Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, said: “Sadly Richard Izard appears not to have read Eastleigh’s Local Plan documents. His repeated assertions are fake news.”…

ADD UPDATE, 6 December 2017: Three MPs, for Winchester, Meon Valley and Eastleigh, have written to the leader and CEO of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) to complain about the soundness of the council’s decision-making for its emerging Local Plan. In particular, they question the assumption that two of the council’s development options – D and E – cannot be considered together, but only in the alternative, and conclude by asking EBC to ensure that: A combination of D and E is examined with an open mind as an alternative to their preferred options, which are B and C combined; and All necessary studies are undertaken to allow a proper evidence-based decision, within the tenets of the National Planning Policy Framework, on which of these two…

STATEMENT FROM ACTION AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT (ADD), 4 DECEMBER 2017 The results of a council survey of Eastleigh residents underline the folly of its plans to build more than five thousand homes on the outskirts of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke, ADD said today. The public response shows that people want above all to minimise traffic congestion, preserve strategic gaps between villages, receive good medical services, reduce pollution and noise and protect the natural environment. Options B and C of the emerging Local Plan threaten all these objectives. To view the results, click here. ADD recognises that new housing in Eastleigh is both necessary and desirable, but believes the council has chosen to locate them in areas that would maximise road usage and damage to the…

ADD UPDATE, 3 December 2017: On Friday night, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) published its proposed Local Plan. As we have long predicted (not least because the council has so clearly signalled), the plan involves building 5,200 new houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Allbrook, Boyatt Wood, Chandler’s Ford, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford, Chandler’s Ford and Bishop’s Waltham too (the council’s options B and C – see an annotated EBC map above). To read all the papers, click here. The experienced team at ADD, together with our professional advisers, are currently combing through every detail of the council’s plan. It’s clear the council is still short of much critical evidence and…

ADD UPDATE, 2 December 2017: Many thanks to all who came to the ADD roadshow over the last three weeks. Over 400 people came along. The points raised and questions asked are really helping us to prepare for the Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) meeting on Monday 11 December at the Hilton at the Ageas where councillors will consider the draft Local Plan, namely proposals for 5,200 new houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. The 11 December meeting is critical – it is so important that councillors grasp how much their decision will impact us and that they take that decision in public. Please do join us there (7pm at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, SO30 3XH) – and…

ADD REMINDER, 29 November 2017: TOMORROW, THURSDAY 30 NOVEMBER, ADD will be holding another UPDATE MEETING ON EASTLEIGH’S LOCAL PLAN – this time at ST PETER’S CHURCH, BOYATT WOOD, starting at 7pm. This meeting follows recent successful events in Colden Common, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and is part of a series of meetings across the large area that Eastleigh Borough Council is likely to choose as its preferred development site at ITS NEXT KEY MEETING ON 11 DECEMBER (please, please attend this meeting: We need EVERYONE against the plan to be there). As many of you know, this plan involves a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and…

Daily Echo, 28 November 2017: EASTLEIGH could do so much better. Those were the words of campaigners meeting to discuss their plans to fight the borough’s emerging Local Plan. Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) came together to talk about future housing development in the area and Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) plans which they say will result in a “giant urban sprawl”. The ADD meeting in Bishopstoke was one in a series at different locations, including Colden Common and Fair Oak, which will be impacted by the plans. EBC’s preferred options – known as options B and C – would see 5,200 homes built to the north Bishopstoke and Fair Oak but ADD, which has enormous support locally and nationally, is fighting these proposals vigorously.    

ADD REMINDER, 25 November 2017: THIS MONDAY, 27 NOVEMBER, ADD will be holding another UPDATE MEETING ON EASTLEIGH’S LOCAL PLAN – this time at FAIR OAK VILLAGE HALL, starting at 7.30pm. This meeting follows recent successful events in Colden Common and Bishopstoke and is part of a series of meetings across the large area that Eastleigh Borough Council is likely to choose as its preferred development site at ITS NEXT KEY MEETING ON 11 DECEMBER (please, please attend this meeting: We need EVERYONE against the plan to be there). As many of you know, this plan involves a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting…

ADD UPDATE, 24 November 2017: Two Hampshire councils have fallen out big time over proposals to build thousands of new houses on greenfields. It has emerged that Winchester City Council has written to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) leader Keith House saying it’s in no way convinced that the proposals – which are Eastleigh’s favoured options for its emerging Local Plan – will work. The proposals, known as options B and C, are to build over 5,000 houses on greenfields north of Bishopstoke and serve them by a new link road which has to squeeze between protected ancient woodlands and then cross the EU protected floodplain of the River Itchen before trying to get through a railway bridge that so narrow its seen over 20 lorry…

ADD Update, 23 November 2017: At ADD, we guard fiercely our political neutrality. We welcome anyone, from any political persuasion, who supports our central aim: which is to inform the debate for Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan such that the borough ends up with a fully evidence-based Local Plan. In this article, we post together the responses of Eastleigh’s Conservative MP, Mims Davies, and its Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Keith House, to the recent announcement by the Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, that the government is poised to intervene in the housebuilding plans of 15 local authorities, including Eastleigh, if they do not publish their housebuilding plans or explain “any exceptional circumstances” why they cannot produce a Local Plan by the end of January next…

Campaign for Better Transport, 21 November 2017: Situated in Hampshire between Southampton and Winchester, Eastleigh was formed in the 19th century as a railway town. Today, the area is blighted by significant congestion and air quality issues. Guest blogger Gin Tidridge, from local campaign group Action Against Destructive Development (ADD), tells us more: ADD was formed following significant concerns about Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s emerging Local Plan. At the heart of the proposals is a new development of over 5,000 new houses on greenfield sites, located on the borough’s northern boundary. Along with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), all local MPs and all affected parish councils, ADD is campaigning to persuade EBC that there are more sustainable locations for new houses.  

ADD UPDATE, 21 November 2017: On 26 September, Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Area Committee that covers the town centre agreed to look into limiting HGVs at rush hour and during the night “within the area encompassing Southampton Road from Chestnut Avenue northwards to Twyford Road roundabout and west from the roundabout along Leigh Road and Romsey Road to Passfield Avenue.” It is great that the Eastleigh LAC, which is made up of borough councillors, wants to address the environmental impact of lorries in the town centre. Concerns about the road surface deteriorating, noise levels and air pollution issues are very relevant to the lives of residents. ADD would like to highlight to the LAC that, if the link road proposed for the massive new development…

Independent, 16 November 2017: Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has said the government is poised to directly intervene in the housebuilding plans of 15 local authorities across England in order to tackle the “broken” housing market. These include Eastleigh Borough Council, which is still without a Local Plan six years after the end of its last one. Putting the authorities “on notice” and warning that a lack of sufficient progress will “no longer be tolerated” by his department, Mr Javid said they had until the end of January 2018 to put forward their housebuilding plans or to explain “any exceptional circumstances… which, in their view, justify their failure to produce a Local Plan under the 2004 Act regime.”

ADD UPDATE, 19 November 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s critical meeting on its emerging Local Plan on 11 December, at which we believe the council will decide to pursue its options B and C (namely plans for 5,200 houses and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), Ray Bellinger, a local resident, has composed and recorded THIS BRILLIANT SONG about the folly of EBC’s decision-making (the pictures are his too!). As Ray sings, “is this really what you want to do?” See his full lyrics below. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY! Thank you Ray. Meanwhile, please, please attend THE CRUCIAL MEETING ON 11 DECEMBER: 7PM AT THE HILTON AT THE AGEAS BOWL.  We need EVERYONE against these proposals to be there.   RAY’S…

ADD UPDATE, 13 November 2017: One Eastleigh Borough councillor lifts the lid on how he was advised to go to the toilet rather than take part in a crucial vote. Cllr Mark Balaam says he was “shocked” to be advised to go to the toilet if he intended to vote against the administration’s recommendation, rather than take part in the vote, when December’s meeting of the full council decides on Eastleigh’s emerging local plan. Cllr Balaam had told senior Lib Dem group officers that he was profoundly unhappy with the proposals to concentrate a massive new development and road in the most environmentally sensitive areas of the borough. Instead of taking the ‘toilet’ advice, he resigned from the Liberal Democrat group and joined his former colleagues…

Daily Echo, 11 November 2017: A COUNCILLOR has quit his party over concerns that plans to build thousands of homes near ancient woodland would cause “serious environmental risks”. Cllr Mark Balaam has resigned from the ruling Liberal Democrats group on Eastleigh Borough Council following his concerns about the impact the proposed development would have on ancient woodland and wildlife. This comes after Cllr Steve Sollitt and Cllr Sarah Bain resigned from the party in August following their concerns about the deliverability and viability of the scheme. Cllr Balaam, who is now sitting as independent, said councillors have to represent every resident of the borough. “I am not prepared to put political loyalty over a conviction in protecting our wildlife and natural heritage”, he added.

ADD REMINDER, 12 November 2017: Over the next couple of weeks, ADD will be holding UPDATE MEETINGS ON EASTLEIGH’S LOCAL PLAN across the large area that Eastleigh Borough Council is likely to choose as its preferred development site at ITS NEXT KEY MEETING ON 11 DECEMBER (please, please attend this meeting: We need EVERYONE against the plan to be there). As many of you know, this plan involves a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Allbrook, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford, Chandler’s Ford and Bishop’s Waltham too (the council’s options B and C). Click here for a map. We will be sharing our research on Eastleigh’s emerging Local…

MAKING THE CASE AGAINST OPTIONS B AND C: KEITH TAYLOR, GREEN PARTY MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FOR THE SOUTH EAST REGION… ADD UPDATE, 9 November 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups and elected bodies all spoke AGAINST the council’s preferred proposal for its emerging Local Plan, namely a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (its options B and C). Since the end of the summer, ADD has been publishing what these representatives said about options B and C, so that everyone can clearly understand the arguments against them ahead of the council’s next key…

Eastleigh News, 8 November 2017: Another councillor has resigned from Eastleigh’s ruling Liberal Democrat group over the direction of the Local Plan and has joined rebel councillors Steve Sollitt and Sarah Bain who who have been sitting as the Independent Liberal Democratic Group since resigning in August. Referring to the council’s decision to identify land north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak as its preferred Local Plan (its options B and C involving 5,200 houses and a new link road), Cllr Mark Balaam said he found it “difficult to reconcile voting on conscience with blind loyalty to a party position.” He added: “On such an important issue, I feel that I have no choice but to put my environmental concerns above any political ambition or group loyalty.”

MAKING THE CASE AGAINST OPTIONS B AND C: THE ANGLING TRUST AND FISH LEGAL… ADD UPDATE, 5 November 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups and elected bodies all spoke AGAINST the council’s preferred proposal for its emerging Local Plan, namely a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a new link road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (its options B and C). Since the end of the summer, ADD has been publishing what these representatives said about options B and C, so that everyone can clearly understand the arguments against them ahead of the council’s next key meeting on 11 December (Please, please attend this…

ADD UPDATE, 2 November 2017: Over the next few weeks, ADD will be holding UPDATE MEETINGS ON EASTLEIGH’S LOCAL PLAN across the large area that Eastleigh Borough Council is likely to choose as its preferred development site at its meeting on 11 December (click here for more details). As many of you know, this plan involves a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham, significantly affecting Allbrook, Otterbourne, Brambridge, Highbridge, Twyford, Chandler’s Ford and Bishop’s Waltham too (the council’s options B and C). Click here for a map. We will be sharing our research on Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan, updating you on the campaign’s progress and hearing your views and…

ADD UPDATE, 1 November 2017: STOP PRESS – SAVE THE DATE – EASTLEIGH BOROUGH COUNCIL TO DECIDE ON HUGE HOUSING PLAN ON MONDAY 11 DECEMBER… MEETING TO BE HELD AT THE HILTON AT THE AGEAS BOWL AT 7.00PM… WE NEED EVERYONE – AND WE MEAN EVERYONE – THERE TO DEMONSTRATE THE MASSIVE OPPOSITION TO OPTIONS B AND C. Decision time is looming for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) on its long-awaited plan to destroy hundreds of acres of countryside in the north of the borough… We have reason to believe that at its next full council meeting, on Monday 11 December, councillors will finally be asked to rubber stamp proposals for 5,200 new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B…

ADD UPDATE, 29 October 2017: Huge concerns have been raised over Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s “public engagement” on its emerging Local Plan – top of these concerns: no meetings with the public! At unbelievably short notice, EBC has called a meeting of neighbouring local parish councillors (from Durley, Bishop’s Waltham, Otterbourne, Upham, Owslebury, Colden Common, and Twyford) on 8 November to discuss this enormous issue. Please see the letter from EBC to parish councillors below.  As you will see, this letter raises serious concerns about EBC’s “public engagement process”. First, it includes a link to an ambiguous and misleading video about the council’s priorities, which – amazingly – makes NO MENTION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT. Second, it includes another link to a fatuous survey, which is: (a)…

Dave Betts, Allbrook and North Boyatt Parish Councillor, 26 October 2017: In the furore over the Eastleigh Local Plan, the likely impact on the village of Allbrook is often overlooked. It  would be severe, says Dave Betts of the Allbrook and North Boyatt Parish Council. Although the Eastleigh Local Plan is still theoretically out to consultation, it is obvious that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s leadership has always favoured a development of 5,000-6,000 new homes north of Bishopstoke (options B and C). Instead of genuinely considering all the options on the table, they are frantically trying to gather the evidence to justify a decision taken behind closed doors a long time ago. This is despite huge opposition from numerous parties, including nationally established environment and transport…

ADD UPDATE, 24 October 2017: It is half term, the children are enjoying a break and of course it is Autumnwatch on the BBC.  Chris Packham will be hosting the programme as usual, and we are bound to see some glorious wildlife in beautiful settings.  So we thought it was time to remind you just what Chris Packham thinks of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s plans to build 5,200 houses on our own beautiful countryside north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (options B and C of EBC’s emerging Local Plan).  Chris spotted his first Kestrel nest in ancient woodland in the area affected by these plans, currently EBC’s favoured options. Chris is absolutely behind ADD’s campaign, and is…

Woodland Trust’s Broadleaf magazine, Autumn 2017: SMALL WONDERS – One woman’s passion for pin-sized wildlife in Eastleigh has spawned a remarkable snapshot of her local woods. But there’s a sting in the tail… “These days I know what to look for – a leaf that’s not whole, a petal with a pimple. My eyes have grown used to spotting where an insect might be lurking.” Jennifer Gosling is bonkers about bugs, and has hunted down hundreds with her camera lens in the woods near her Eastleigh home. She has never earned a penny from her images – in fact she only started snapping nature in 2012, when her daughter gave her a camera after she retired. Yet her curious woodland passion has spawned a superlative…

ADD UPDATE, 25 September 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council’s plans to build 5,200 homes and a major new road on green fields in the north of the borough is sparking an increasingly hostile rebellion amongst local Liberal Democrats. Already two Eastleigh Lib Dems have quit and now a leading Lib Dem from across the border with Winchester has joined the fray. In a strongly worded letter, Richard Izard, a Winchester City Councillor representing nearby Colden Common and Twyford (pictured above), has told every Eastleigh council member that the planned development north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, its preferred choice for its emerging Local Plan, will be torn to shreds by a government planning inspector. Amongst a litany of reasons, Izard accuses the council of contravening national…

ADD UPDATE, 19 September 2017: The Woodland Trust has rubbished a claim by Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), that latest plans for 5,200 houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, options B and C of Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan, include sufficient measures to protect ancient woodland. House made the claim in this interview with BBC Radio Solent on 21 July, the morning after EBC voted to continue to pursue options B and C as its preferred ‘strategic growth option’ for the borough. Speaking about ancient woodland in the area (minutes 4.38 – 5.24), House said he believed that the Woodland Trust “haven’t actually looked at the most recent proposals because we have now got massive buffers between development and the [Woodland Trust’s ancient]…

MAKING THE CASE AGAINST OPTIONS B AND C: THE WOODLAND TRUST… ADD UPDATE, 11 September 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups and elected bodies all spoke AGAINST the council’s preferred proposal for its emerging Local Plan, namely a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (its options B and C). As we return from our summer break, ADD is publishing what these representatives said about options B and C, so that everyone can clearly understand the arguments against them. As we have stated all along, we are fighting for an evidence-based Local Plan for Eastleigh and…

MAKING THE CASE AGAINST OPTIONS B AND C: ALLBROOK AND NORTH BOYATT PARISH COUNCIL… ADD UPDATE, 5 September 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups and elected bodies all spoke AGAINST the council’s preferred proposal for its emerging Local Plan, namely a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (its options B and C). As we return from our summer break, ADD is publishing what these representatives said about options B and C, so that everyone can clearly understand the arguments against them. As we have stated all along, we are fighting for an evidence-based Local Plan…

Daily Echo, 1 September 2017: TWO former Liberal Democrat councillors have sworn allegiance to support a campaign to scrap building thousands of homes in a Hampshire borough. Independent councillors Steve Sollitt and Sarah Bain have given their formal support to Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) – the group set up to fight options B and C of Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan which involves plans to build 5,200 houses and a major new road north and east of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, through some of the borough’s finest ancient woodland. Cllr Sollitt has been a councillor in Eastleigh for 19 years and Cllr Bain has lived in Eastleigh for the last 30 years including spending eight years in Boyatt Wood, which would be affected by the development.

MAKING THE CASE AGAINST OPTIONS B AND C: CPRE (HAMPSHIRE)… ADD UPDATE, 1 September 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups and elected bodies all spoke AGAINST the council’s preferred proposal for its emerging Local Plan, namely a monster housing sprawl (5,200 new homes) and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham (its options B and C). As we return from our summer break, ADD is publishing what these representatives said about options B and C, so that everyone can clearly understand the arguments against them. As we have stated all along, we are fighting for an evidence-based Local Plan for Eastleigh and will…

ADD UPDATE, 24 August 2017: Eastleigh’s two newly independent councillors, Steve Sollitt and Sarah Bain, have given their formal support to Action against Destructive Development (ADD) – the group set up to fight Options B and C of the emerging Local Plan. In a statement the two councillors said: “We share and understand the concerns felt by ADD about the extreme and disproportionate damage that the local plan would cause the environment – especially the impact of the proposed new link road on the village of Allbrook, the River Itchen and on ancient woodland. We intend to work with ADD to promote more sustainable and acceptable ways to provide housing in Eastleigh.” Cllrs Bain and Sollitt resigned from the ruling Liberal Democrat group on Eastleigh…

Hampshire Chronicle, 16 August 2017: TWO Lib Dem councillors have quit their party over plans to build thousands of homes near ancient woodland. Cllr Steve Sollitt and Cllr Sarah Bain have resigned from the ruling Liberal Democrats group on Eastleigh Borough Council following their concerns about the deliverability and viability of the scheme. They are now sitting as independents, but council leader Keith House has hit back and said the rebels had taken a decision on the Local Plan before all the evidence was made available. During a full council meeting on July 20, borough councillors indicated land north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak as the preferred location for a new development of 5,200 new houses and a major new road.

Eastleigh News, 4 August 2017: Two members of Eastleigh’s ruling Liberal Democrat group have resigned from the party citing concerns over the ‘soundness’ of Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan. But Cllr Sarah Bain and Cllr Steve Sollitt say they will continue to represent their wards as ‘Independent Liberal Democrats’. Both councillors had joined fellow Lib Dem Cllr Mark Balaam and Conservative opposition members in voting against a cabinet recommendation at last month’s council meeting which identified land north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B and C) as the preferred sites for thousands of new homes in the borough. During the meeting on 20 July, representatives from environmental groups, local community groups, parish councillors and Eastleigh’s MP Mims Davies all spoke against the development.

ADD UPDATE, 2 August 2017: Draft minutes from Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s crucial meeting on its emerging Local Plan on 20 July, at which a clear preference was voiced for options B and C (namely the plan for 5,200 new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), are now available on the council’s website. These minutes include a record of which councillors voted for, against or abstained in the vote to “note the emerging approach” on the Local Plan. Two Liberal Democrat councillors declared pecuniary interest, one of whom was Fair Oak’s Nicholas Couldrey, and neither took part in the debate or vote. Voting against were Liberal Democrats Steve Sollitt, Sarah Bain, Mark Balaam, as well as Conservatives Judith Grajewski, Jerry…

Angling Trust & Fish Legal, 28 July 2017. This article was published in this week’s Angling Trust & Fish Legal ‘Member News’ update: “Last week, Angling Trust Chief Executive Mark Lloyd gave a speech at a meeting of Eastleigh Borough Council attended by around 500 local residents opposed to plans to build 5,000 new homes and a link road near the River Itchen, one of the country’s finest chalkstreams. Mark stressed that the river is already over-abstracted and polluted with phosphates and called for a re-writing of the Local Plan to focus on water sustainability. Earlier in the summer, the Angling Trust and WWF-UK hosted an event attended by cross party MPs, the Sports Minister Tracey Crouch and the Water Minister Therese Coffey to highlight the…

ADD UPDATE, 27 July, 2017: Last Friday, the morning after Eastleigh Borough Council’s meeting on its emerging Local Plan, BBC Radio Solent aired THIS BROADCAST on the meeting and the uphill struggle that Keith House, leader of the council, faces if he wishes to pursue his preferred plans for 5,200 houses and a major new road in the north of the borough. In this post, we transcribe the first part of the broadcast and then invite you to listen to Keith House answer questions from the BBC’s Julian Clegg and Jo Palmer. Given ADD’s central aim is for transparency in Eastleigh’s Local Plan process, we highlight key parts of the interview you may wish to consider; and offer factual responses to Keith House’s assertions.  All we want is for the…

Hampshire Chronicle, 21 July 2017: AN AREA near ancient woodland in Hampshire has been indicated as the preferred location to build more than 5,000 homes. Councillors from Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) indicated the area to the north and east of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, and south of Colden Common (namely options B and C of EBC’s emerging Local Plan), as the preferred location for the new development. Community and council bosses presented their arguments during a council meeting last night. During the meeting, Jack Taylor of the Woodland Trust said: “Council and local authorities around the UK need to be looking at building more resilient landscapes, not less. We are concerned that option B and C would be a clear step back from these sustainable development principles.”  

Daily Mirror, 25 July 2017: WILDLIFE presenter Chris Packham has lashed out at plans to build 5,000 homes in countryside near where he grew up as “a grotesque act of eco-vandalism”. The BBC Springwatch host, 56, said developing the rural area near Eastleigh, Hants, was a “vanity of short-term thinking.” He urged council chiefs to consider available brownfield sites instead. But Keith House of Eastleigh Borough Council insisted: “We’re committed to getting the right homes in the right places.” To view a photocopy of the article, click here.

Daily Mail, 24 July 2017: BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham has described controversial plans to build 5,000 new homes on an area of countryside near where he grew up as “a grotesque act of eco-vandalism” and urged councillors to change their minds. The 56-year-old naturalist has asked that Eastleigh Borough Council in Hampshire reconsider plans for a new housing development in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke. He said he acknowledged the need for new housing in the borough, but said more suitable brownfield sites are available to fulfil the demand. He added: “I am afraid I see this development as a grandiose vanity of short term thinking and I am appalled by the short termism and scant regard for the future of those who live in the area.”    

ADD UPDATE, 23 July 2017: Thank you very much to everyone who came to Hedge End last Thursday evening for Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s meeting on its emerging Local Plan and to protest against the council’s preference to build 5,200 new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B and C). Thank you too to all of you who delivered leaflets, held placards, and sent messages of support in your absence. The meeting was absolutely packed (around 500 people) and even required a video link to the foyer! As expected, it was a marathon meeting but we firmly believe that our message is getting through to councillors that they must work harder to engage with the community. Significantly, the…

Daily Echo, 22 July 2017: CAMPAIGNERS think that a scheme to build 5,200 homes near ancient woodland in Hampshire will be thrown out. As previously reported, Eastleigh Borough Council has indicated the area to the north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B and C) as the preferred location for the huge new development. However, during a council meeting held on Thursday night, councillors stressed that more evidence is needed before taking a decision. John Lauwerys of ADD said: “We believe that the evidence, when it is all complete, will prove… that options B and C are not the best options. Even if the council choose B and C we’ll keep fighting because we believe that the plan will be found unsound by the planning inspector.”

Daily Echo, 20 July 2017: HUNDREDS of residents are expected to pack a meeting over plans to build more than 5,000 homes near ancient woodland in Hampshire. Tonight Eastleigh Borough Council will indicate the area to the north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak as the preferred location for a new development which could see 5,200 new homes and a new access road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. Mark Baylis, 64, member of ADD, said: “Any development should preserve the character of the area, respecting the fact that it includes much of the borough’s most important and sensitive wildlife sites. [This] plan would create a large urban sprawl in the most environmentally sensitive parts of the borough and away from existing public transport and motorway links.”

ADD UPDATE, 20 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting TONIGHT (Thursday 20 July) to decide on its Local Plan options (at which we hope to see as many of you as possible – details here), ADD has this afternoon sent the following email to all Eastleigh Borough Councillors individually: STARTS Dear Councillor, Eastleigh Local Plan Review: Emerging Approach This evening, Eastleigh Borough Council will be asked to identify its preferred option for the location of the Strategic Growth Option. Many residents, affected parish councils and organisations such as the Campaign to Protect Rural England and The Woodland Trust, are concerned that that the options for meeting the demand for new housing in Eastleigh Borough are being driven by developers, and that you,…

ADD REMINDER, 18 July 2017: An important reminder to everyone living in Eastleigh or the Winchester Southern Parishes that Eastleigh Borough Council will be making a key decision regarding its emerging Local Plan at a public meeting this Thursday, 20 July. In particular, the council has said in its papers for the meeting that it wishes to pursue plans for a MONSTER HOUSING SPRAWL (5,000+ new houses and a major new road) north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and south of Colden Common, Owslebury and Upham. The meeting will be held at 7pm at the Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 4BZ. Please come and protest against this wanton destruction of our beautiful countryside. At the council’s meeting on this subject on 15…

Hampshire Chronicle, 17 July 2017: BATTLE lines are being drawn over plans to build more than 5,000 homes and community facilities near ancient woodland. During a council meeting being held this Thursday, 20 July, Eastleigh Borough Council will be indicating the area to the north and east of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak as the preferred location for a new development which could see 5,200 new homes, shops, schools, open spaces and a new access road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. The scheme will have a major impact on villages such Colden Common, Twyford, Upham and Bishop’s Waltham. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at 7pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, SO30 4BZ. A large turnout is expected.

ADD UPDATE, 17 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting this Thursday, 20 July, to decide on its Local Plan options (at which we hope to see as many of you as possible – details here), ADD has today put out the following press release:  STARTS Eastleigh local plan unachievable – ADD action group urges inclusive discussion of evidence to avoid plan failure The emerging Eastleigh Local Plan is destined to fail when it comes before the planning inspector unless there are substantial modifications, Action against Destructive Development warns today. The latest version of the plan, published last week and due to be discussed at full council on Thursday, contains inconsistencies, misleading statements and vast gaps in evidence. The plan would involve the building of…

ADD UPDATE, 12 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting on 20 July to decide on its Local Plan options (at which we hope to see as many of you as possible), we have obtained the clip above of BBC South’s news coverage on 7 July of the Environment Agency’s plan to reduce abstraction from the River Test and Southern Water’s recognition that the region is “water-stressed”. This clearly has important implications for Eastleigh’s plan for thousands of new houses in the borough, as John Lauwerys of ADD states. IF YOU DON’T WANT 6,000+ NEW HOUSES IN BISHOPSTOKE AND FAIR OAK, COME TO THE COUNCIL MEETING ON 20 JULY: 7pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, SO30 4BZ. 

ADD UPDATE, 12 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting on 20 July to decide on its Local Plan options (at which we hope to see as many of you as possible – details here), we have obtained a clip of BBC South’s news coverage on 7 July of the Environment Agency’s plan to reduce abstraction from the River Test and Southern Water’s recognition that the region is “water-stressed”. This clearly has important implications for Eastleigh’s plan for thousands of new houses in the borough, as John Lauwerys of ADD states. TO VIEW, CLICK HERE.  IF YOU DON’T WANT 6,000+ NEW HOUSES IN BISHOPSTOKE AND FAIR OAK, COME TO THE COUNCIL MEETING ON 20 JULY: 7pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, SO30 4BZ. 

ADD UPDATE, 11 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting on 20 July to decide on its Local Plan options, local children have started adding their voice to the campaign against the council’s preferred option of a monster housing sprawl north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. A 13 year-old local girl has made THIS MUST-SEE VIDEO, which brilliantly reinforces the idiom that a picture is worth a thousand words! As our children will be the ones most affected by the council’s Local Plan, which is set to run to 2036, the council would be wise to take into account their attitudes before making its final decision. Let’s hope Cllr Keith House, the leader of the council, is doing so. Please share this video as widely…

ADD UPDATE, 11 July 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s critical meeting on 20 July to decide on its Local Plan options, local children have started adding their voice to the campaign against the council’s preferred option of a monster housing sprawl north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. Above is a video by 13 year-old local girl which brilliantly reinforces the idiom that a picture is worth a thousand words! As our children will be the ones most affected by the council’s Local Plan, which is set to run to 2036, the council would be wise to take into account their attitudes before making its final decision. Let’s hope Cllr Keith House, the leader of the council, is doing so. Please share this video as widely as…

ADD UPDATE, 9 July 2017: Less than two weeks before Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) makes a key decision on a massive 6,200 housing development, it has been hit by a double whammy. Problems are piling up one after another. In one case, Network Rail wants a ransom of millions of pounds for improving a road under a deathtrap bridge. And Southern Water has now admitted it would have to find alternative supplies if the scheme goes ahead. If it can’t find them then the scheme is, literally, dead in the water. In the case of the bridge, EBC has been warned by Network Rail that trying to squeeze a new road under a very old road bridge could cost lives. In recent years, lorries have…

ADD UPDATE: 9 July 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council has announced the venue for its council meeting on 20 JULY, at which it will take a critical decision relating to its Local Plan options. The meeting, which will take place at 7pm, will be held at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 4BZ. Join us to make local opinion heard at this crucial meeting when we believe the council, led by Keith House (Lib Dem, pictured), will push forward with its preferred GIANT housing development (enough to cover its housing need for the next 20 years) in the very north of the borough (Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), right on the border with Winchester’s southern villages (Upham, Owslebury, Twyford, Colden Common, Bishops Waltham,…

ADD UPDATE, 7 July 2017: Is the Eastleigh Local Plan consultation a stitch-up? In this update, we reveal the emails that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) tried to hide from the public… According to two emails that have come to light despite attempts by EBC to keep them hidden, the leader of the council was involved in detailed discussions with the developers of options B and C of the Local Plan (namely the proposals for a monster housing sprawl and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) well before they were made public. The emails show that Cllr Keith House was discussing a ‘master plan’ and ‘joint venture’ with the developer, Highwood, in October 2015 – and that at least two senior officers were also…

BBC News, 6 July 2017: A water company has been asked to nearly halve the amount of water it takes from a Hampshire chalk stream. The Environment Agency has published a plan to reduce abstraction from the River Test from 136 to 80 million litres a day. It said the change was needed to protect wildlife and to “restore sustainable abstraction”. Southern Water said it recognised the region was “water-stressed” and would need time to find solutions. It added the Environment Agency had already asked to vary all five abstraction licences in Hampshire, at a time when house building and population growth was increasing in demand. A public inquiry in 2018 is due to explore previously requested licence changes on the Test and the Itchen.

ADD UPDATE, 4 July 2017: As Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) considers its plans for a monster housing sprawl and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B and C of its emerging Local Plan – see map above), one of the key pieces of research it has yet to complete is the plans’ effect on traffic flows. At the moment, EBC cannot make statements that the proposed new road will ease congestion or alleviate future increased traffic based on anything other than conjecture. It is likely to be Hampshire County Council that does this work, but EBC will commission it. As we all know, public transport would be limited to say the least: double-decker buses would not be able to get…

ADD UPDATE, 28 June 2017: Ahead of the by-election TOMORROW, Thursday 29 June, for a Parish Councillor in Bishopstoke (East), ADD invited each of the candidates to supply us with no more than 350 words on how they feel about options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s emerging Local Plan, namely its plans for a Monster sprawl of 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, and any relevant action they intend to take. By way of reminder the candidates are: EDWARDS, John Peter – Independent HARRIS, Geoff – Liberal Democrat MCCORMICK, Tabatha – Independent ADD would like to thank John Edwards and Tabatha McCormick for taking the time to send us a brief statement, thereby participating…

ADD UPDATE, 26 June 2017: Ahead of the by-election on 29 June for a Parish Councillor in Bishopstoke (East), ADD has invited each of the candidates to supply us with no more than 350 words on how they feel about options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan (namely its plans for a Monster sprawl of 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) and any relevant action they intend to take, if elected. On 26 June, John Edwards, Independent candidate, sent us the following email: “I’m standing as a concerned Independent candidate / resident because I believe that most of the parish councillors have betrayed your trust. The worst examples are the Lib Dem councillors who refuse…

ADD REMINDER: 25 June 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council has said that it will make a critical decision on which its Local Plan options it will pursue at its next full council meeting on 20 JULY (at 7pm – location to be decided). Join us to make local opinion heard at this crucial meeting when we believe the council, led by Keith House (Lib Dem), will push forward with its preferred GIANT housing development (enough to cover its housing need for the next 20 years) in the very north of the borough (Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), right on the border with Winchester’s southern villages (Upham, Owslebury, Twyford, Colden Common, Bishops Waltham, Otterbourne). THIS IS A MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT ON SOME OF HAMPSHIRE’S FINEST COUNTRYSIDE! As TV naturalist…

ADD UPDATE, 18 June 2017: As our group fights to save Bishopstoke from the eco-vandalism of Eastleigh Borough Council’s (EBC) emerging Local Plan, we try resolutely to stay out of party politics. Nonetheless, we have little choice but to correct allegations made in this Liberal Democrat leaflet of Geoff Harris, entitled ‘Bishopstoke Parish Council Election Special – 29 June 2017’. Our aim is to fight proposals put forward by developers to build over 6,000 homes just outside Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (often called options B and C), which are apparently supported by the Lib Dem leadership of EBC. We believe that these options would have catastrophic environmental consequences for the borough, for local ancient woodlands, for the River Itchen, for the South Downs National Park…

ADD UPDATE, 15 June 2017: Ahead of the by-election on 29 June for a Parish Councillor in Bishopstoke (East), ADD has invited each of the candidates to supply us with no more than 350 words on how they feel about options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan (namely its plans for a Monster sprawl of 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) and any relevant action they intend to take, if elected. On 15 June, Tabatha McCormick, Independent candidate, sent us the following email: “It can often be said that you often don’t fully appreciate something until you have lost it. And the potential loss of huge swathes of our green space has certainly made me…

ADD UPDATE, 13 June 2017: Ahead of the by-election on 29 June for a Parish Councillor in Bishopstoke (East), Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) is keen to help voters in this ward gain a better understanding of how their candidates feel about options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan (namely its plans for a Monster sprawl of 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) and any relevant action these candidates intend to take, if elected. The three candidates are: EDWARDS, John Peter – Independent HARRIS, Geoff – Liberal Democrat MCCORMICK, Tabatha – Independent We have asked each of the candidates to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C,…

ADD UPDATE, 11 June 2017: Is Liberal Democrat-controlled Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) rethinking its plans for a monster and hugely destructive housing sprawl on the outskirts of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak in response to comments received during its consultation process? Mike Thornton, the Lib Dem Hampshire County Councillor for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and close ally of the EBC leadership, hinted as much during the general election campaign when he stood unsuccessfully to be re-elected to parliament. 

ADD UPDATE, 11 June 2017: Is Liberal Democrat-controlled Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) rethinking its plans for a monster and hugely destructive housing sprawl on the outskirts of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak in response to comments received during its consultation process? Mike Thornton, the Lib Dem Hampshire County Councillor for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and close ally of the EBC leadership, hinted as much during the general election campaign when he stood unsuccessfully to be re-elected to parliament.  He was asked on camera by Eastleigh News whether the plan to cover the borough’s finest countryside with 6,000+ new houses and a major new road, namely options B and C of EBC’s emerging Local Plan, would impact ancient woodland at Stoke Park Woods (including Crowd Hill Copse and Upper…

ADD UPDATE, 7 June 2017: Ahead of tomorrow’s General Election, ADD invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its planned MONSTER sprawl of 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 100 words on their views on options B and C and 100 words on their intended actions relating to options B and C. (NB: we increased this to a total of 350 words on 19 May). ADD would like to thank all of the candidates who took the time to send us a brief statement, thereby participating in our virtual hustings. The final count (in alphabetical order, by…

ADD UPDATE, 7 June 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 7 June, Martin Lyon, UKIP candidate for Winchester, has sent us the following email: “The question of high density housing is a big issue for the Winchester and Eastleigh Constituencies. Eastleigh is taking a greater proportion of housing than surrounding areas – why? The Conservative-controlled county council and…

ADD UPDATE, 6 June 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. Andrew Hayward, Green candidate for Meon Valley, has sent us the following email: “While it is undeniable that a shortage of houses is an issue faced across the country, the development of green space as a solution is something I find unthinkable and is indeed the stance of The…

ADD UPDATE: 3 June 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council has said that it will make a decision on which options of its Local Plan it will choose at its next full council meeting on 20 JULY (at 7pm – location to be decided). Join us to make local opinion heard at this crucial meeting when we believe the council, led by Keith House (Lib Dem), will push through its preferred GIANT housing development (enough to cover its housing need for the next 20 years) in the very north of the borough (Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), right on the border with Winchester’s southern villages (Upham, Owslebury, Twyford, Colden Common, Bishops Waltham, Otterbourne). THIS IS MASSIVE! Help save your countryside! As TV naturalist Chris Packham says: “It is…

ADD UPDATE, 30 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 30 May, Jackie Porter, Liberal Democrat candidate for Winchester, sent us the following email: “I have spoken with residents in Church Lane (Colden Common), and elsewhere in my constituency, in support of ADD’s plea to prevent the degradation of the Ancient Woodland (in options B and C), and I know that residents on…

ADD UPDATE, 29 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 29 May, Paul Bailey, UKIP candidate for Meon Valley, sent us the following email: “It seems that many of the newly proposed housing developments across all counties are an edict from government and there is nothing that ordinary people can do about it other than try to limit…

ADD UPDATE, 24 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 24 May, Ron Meldrum, Green candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “The Green Party is the only party that has environmental and financial sustainability as its core axiom. “The destruction of our green fields for housing is a result of the economic growth model particularly pursued…

ADD UPDATE, 23 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 22 May, Jill Payne, Labour candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “Whilst acknowledging the considerable demand for housing locally I would oppose options B and C as I have huge reservations they would: provide the right sort of housing needed; be sustainable under current supporting infra-structure;…

ADD UPDATE, 21 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 20 May, Malcolm Jones, UKIP candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email: “The so called public ‘consultation’ was flawed – as an option not to build was never offered. ‘The ‘relief roads’ have no covenant protecting their flanks from future development, so will just become ‘link roads’…

ADD UPDATE, 20 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 350 words on their views on options B and C and their intended actions relating to them. On 18 May, Mims Davies, Conservative candidate for Eastleigh, sent us the following email (plus links): “I strongly oppose the whole process which has left confusion and upset across the Borough, lack of clarity regarding the housing number requirements and what appears to be clear predetermination with moving forward…

ADD UPDATE, 18 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 100 words on their views on options B and C and 100 words on their intended actions relating to options B and C. (NB: we increased this to a total of 350 words on 19 May). Earlier today, George Hollingbery, Conservative candidate for Meon Valley, sent us the following email: “My views on options B and C are well-known. Put simply, I think they represent…

ADD UPDATE, 17 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, ADD has invited each candidate for each constituency that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to supply us with up to 100 words on their views on options B and C and 100 words on their intended actions relating to options B and C.(NB: we increased this to a total of 350 words on 19 May). On 16 May, Steve Brine, Conservative candidate for Winchester, sent us the following email: “I would ask constituents to simply look at my record working for many years as one…

ADD UPDATE, 15 May 2017: Ahead of the general election on 8 June, Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) is keen to help voters in Eastleigh, Winchester and the Meon Valley gain a better understanding of how their prospective parliamentary candidates feel about options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak), and any relevant action these candidates intend to take, if elected. We are therefore giving every candidate in these constituencies the opportunity to supply ADD with up to 100 words on their views on options B and C and 100 words on their intended actions relating to options B and C (NB: we increased this to a total of…

ADD UPDATE, 5 May 2017: Lou Parker-Jones, the candidate who stood as an Independent in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke ward in the Hampshire county council elections, said the result “shows the strength of opposition to Eastleigh Borough Council’s local plan.” She called on the winner, Liberal Democrat Mike Thornton, to make good a pledge made during the campaign to protect ancient woodland in the area known as Stoke Park Woods. Parker-Jones came second with 1,124 votes standing on a platform that included opposition to proposals to build more than 6,000 new houses in the two villages – plans that have been condemned by many organisations, including local resident, conservation, angling, health and church groups and the Woodland Trust. TV naturalist Chris Packham has described the plans…

ADD UPDATE, 3 May 2017: Ahead of tomorrow’s Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections, ADD invited each candidate for each division that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. ADD would like to thank all of the candidates who took the time to send us a brief statement on their views and position regarding options B and C, thereby participating in our virtual hustings. Of the 11 candidates who replied to our open invitation, ALL said they support our campaign. The remaining eight candidates chose…

ADD UPDATE, 3 May 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 3 May, Chris Yates, Conservative candidate for Eastleigh North (including Allbrook), sent us the following email: “I fully support Action Against Destructive Development in their fight to protect our land.  The local plan that will prevent hostile housing developments is now more than seven years overdue!” Chris Yates, Conservative candidate…

ADD UPDATE, 3 May 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 3 May, Victoria Jones, Green candidate for Bishops Waltham (including Colden Common and Upham), sent us the following email: “I have a degree in conservation biology and I am appalled about the planned development. I understand the area includes not only several areas of designated ancient woodland and hedgerows…

ADD UPDATE, 2 May 2017, Bruce Mitchell, resident of Fair Oak: The document ‘Eastleigh Strategic Development – Options B and C, Strategic Site Rationale and Proposed Delivery Strategy’, published last November by developers Highwood and Drew Smith (and favoured by Eastleigh Borough Council), lays out in rosy developers’ and politicians’ language the reasons why the rolling landscape north of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke should be filled with houses and cars and tarmacked over. It exudes the usual positive glow of this sort of document, talking about ‘enhancing, reinforcing, creating, providing, delivering’ all sorts of putative benefits to the people they hope will be drawn in to buy from them at hugely inflated costs. Oh, and also to the existing communities who treasure the woodland and…

ADD UPDATE, 2 May 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 2 May, Catherine Hutchinson, Labour candidate for Winchester Downlands, sent us the following email: “I wholly endorse the Action Against Destructive Development campaign. Eastleigh Borough Council’s options B and C are needlessly destructive. They cut across irreplaceable ancient woodland with a road that will increase traffic congestion and pollution. They…

ADD UPDATE, 1 May 2017: Last Saturday, a group of us went for a guided run or a walk from the Fox and Hounds pub to see the bluebells in Upper Barn Copse, Crowdhill Copse and Stoke Park Wood. We were careful to keep to public rights of way. There is no suggestion that the woods will be felled if Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) pursues options B and C of its Local Plan – but the ADD campaign maintains that there would be a devastating impact on them. Building housing and roads too close to woods leads to wildlife corridors being degraded. There is also concern about invasive non-native species of plants spreading into sites of ancient natural woodland, damaging the ecology. This often happens unintentionally…

ADD UPDATE, 30 April 2017: This recording of BBC Radio Solent’s interview with TV naturalist Chris Packham and the Woodland Trust’s Chris Hickman on 20 April is a MUST LISTEN for anyone living in, or close to, Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Owslebury, Allbrook, Colden Common, Chandler’s Ford, Highbridge, Brambridge, Twyford or Otterbourne. To pique your interest, here are some excerpts: “Don’t trash an area of international importance,” that’s the message from Chris Packham to Eastleigh Borough Council who want to build a new bypass and 6,000 houses near ancient woodlands and over the River Itchen (options B and C of its emerging Local Plan). Packham tells BBC Radio Solent’s Jo Palmer: “When you are fortunate enough to be operating in a borough where this is such…

Letter to the Echo from Richard May, Eastleigh, 4 April 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council’s local plan that will devastate the Stoke Park Wood area is yet another of their crazed schemes driven only by the perceived financial gains that it will create. Where we can fight these plans is at the ballot box. There is desperate need for political change in Eastleigh. We all need to vote at the imminent local election. Less than 30% of us bother to vote and as a result many of the ruling Lib Dem councillors retain their seat with just 10% of the vote. I urge all those fighting these plans to vote. The possibility of losing political power will frighten this Council more than any other action.

ADD UPDATE, 28 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 28 April, Jan Warwick, Conservative candidate for Winchester Downlands, sent us the following email: “Options A and B are of concern to the residents of Otterbourne, Twyford and Colden Common. While we recognise that Eastleigh, like Winchester, needs to build additional houses, we are concerned about the impact…

ADD UPDATE, 28 April 2017: It’s not just ADD that is determined to protect our threatened ancient woodland. We’ve no less an ally now than the government minister in charge of such things. On 24 April, in response to a question from Eastleigh MP Mims Davies, Planning Minister Gavin Barwell told the Commons that ancient woodlands, like Eastleigh’s Stoke Park Wood and Park Hills Wood, are “a precious resource inherited from previous generations and which cannot be easily replaced”. Moreover, he confirmed the government’s commitment to protecting ancient woodland and said measures to protect them would be increased. The news comes as a relief to the host of national bodies campaigning to protect the ancient woodland north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak from proposals by…

ADD UPDATE, 27 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 27 April, Andy Moore, UKIP candidate for Eastleigh North (including Allbrook), sent us the following email: “Over the last few years I have been finding lots of pollution problems with sewage leaking into our rivers. This happens mainly when it rains. Southern Water say the sewage treatment works…

ADD UPDATE, 27 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 27 April, Max Priesemann, Green candidate for Winchester Downlands (including Otterbourne), sent us the following email: “I oppose the proposed plan for north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak as it will increase traffic and pollution even within the Downlands division. Valuable woodland and ecosystems need to be preserved for wildlife and…

APPEAL TO ADD SUPPORTERS: PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION BY 2 MAY, 26 April 2017: As ADD supporters know, the protection of ancient woodland is an important issue in our efforts to prevent Eastleigh Borough Council from pressing ahead with its plans to build 6,000+ new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (namely options B and C of its Local Plan). The beautiful countryside in this area includes seven sites of ancient woodland: Stoke Park Wood, Crowdhill Copse, Upper Barn Copse, Hill Copse, Park Hills Wood, Hallands Copse and Tippers Copse. The government’s recent housing white paper suggests giving additional protection for sites of ancient woodland within the National Planning Policy Framework. However, the white paper does not go as far as to…

ADD UPDATE, 26 April 2017: Following our successful ADD run on 2 April, we will be holding a ‘bluebell walk and run’ through the beautiful Stoke Park countryside this Saturday, 29 April, to raise awareness for our campaign and to remind ourselves of what will be lost if Eastleigh Borough Council goes ahead with its plans for 6,000+ new houses and a new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (namely options B and C of its emerging Local Plan). We will meet at the Fox and Hounds, Winchester Road, Fair Oak, SO50 7HB at 3pm. Fun runners will be able to enjoy a sociable 5.7km scenic route whilst walkers can enjoy a stroll through the countryside before entering one of the ancient woodlands to enjoy a stunning…

ADD UPDATE, 25 April 2017: Naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham’s video filmed by BBC Radio Solent about why he opposes Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s plans for 6,000+ houses and a new road in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke (namely options B and C of its Local Plan) is going viral on social media, with over 17,000 views and counting. He has previously described EBC’s plans as “eco-vandalism”. He says: “The Itchen floodplain is of national and international importance as a chalk stream. Both the waterway and all of its tributaries and the surrounding meadows – and surrounding ancient woodland – are of national importance. This means when it comes to local importance they are unparalleled. This is something we should be looking after, not just…

Show House, 21 April 2017: Developers, planners and local planning authorities in East and West Sussex and West Kent have been left scratching their heads after a decision by one council has called into question all new development in the area. Wealden District Council has confirmed that as a result of their continued assessment of nitrogen deposits in the Ashdown Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC), there will be no development permitted unless it can be shown that the proposed scheme won’t generate any additional vehicle movements. The announcement comes after a High Court decision last month that traffic movements in the Ashdown Forest SAC have already cumulatively breached Natural England’s threshold for acceptable levels of traffic.

BBC Radio Solent, 21 April 2017: Naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham speaks to BBC Radio Solent about why he opposes Eastleigh Borough Council’s plans for 6,000 homes and a new road in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke (namely options B and C of its Local Plan). He has previously described the plans as “eco-vandalism”. He says: “The Itchen floodplain is of national and international importance as a chalk stream. Both the waterway and all of its tributaries and the surrounding meadows – and surrounding ancient woodland – are of national importance. This means when it comes to local importance they are unparalleled. This is something we should be looking after, not just now but long into the future.”

ADD UPDATE, 21 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 21 April, Dave Hubble, Green candidate for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, sent us the following email: “I oppose development Options B & C for several reasons. Firstly, direct damage and destruction of local habitats, with remaining areas being isolated, over-used and degraded. Secondly, worsening air quality with increased traffic congestion.…

ADD UPDATE, 17 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 17 April, John Edwards, UKIP candidate for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, sent us the following email: “You can rely on me to fight for a public enquiry to: Call to account councillors and officers responsible for planning decisions that are harming the borough. I also call for a moratorium on current…

ADD UPDATE, 15 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 14 April, Louise Anne Parker-Jones, Independent candidate for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, sent us the following email: “I’ve supported ADD since its inception. You’ve probably seen me delivering leaflets or speaking against the proposals at public meetings. Stoke Park and the Itchen make Bishopstoke and Fair Oak special and should…

ADD UPDATE, 13 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 12 April, Steven Broomfield, Conservative candidate for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, sent us the following email: “We have a real spectre – thousands of houses on green fields with no thought to infrastructure. There’s no connection with our neighbours – Winchester City Council are as worried as we are. Last…

ADD UPDATE, 10 April 2017: Ahead of the Hampshire County Council (HCC) elections on 4 May, ADD has invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted by options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan (namely its plans for 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) to submit an article of no more than 100 words that describes their position with regards to this proposed major development area. On 9 April, Ray Bellinger, Labour candidate for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, sent us the following email: “The Labour Party remains opposed to the proposed major development of 6000 houses around Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (Options B and C) for the following reasons. Environmental and infrastructure impact. Traffic congestion, pollution…

ADD UPDATE, 7 April 2017: In four weeks’ time, on 4 May, there are local elections for every ward in Hampshire County Council. Although Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan is the work of Eastleigh Borough Council, we are certain that many local residents would like to learn more about the views of the County Council candidates. The Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) campaign is not endorsing any candidate and we plan to provide a method by which residents can read and compare statements – a kind of virtual hustings. We have invited each candidate for each ward that will be impacted if options B and C go ahead, to submit a short article, no more than 100 words, that describes their position with regards to the…

Hampshire Chronicle, 5 April 2017: A BBC wildlife expert has branded plans for housing near Winchester as a “piece of eco-vandalism”. Naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham has criticised Eastleigh Council’s plans for 6,000 homes and a new road in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke (namely options B and C of its Local Plan) as “eco-vandalism”. He has also given his backing to ADD, the pressure group set up to fight these proposals. In 2003 Packham wrote the foreword to a document entitled ‘Wild about Eastleigh’, which promoted the council’s biodiversity plans. Some of the sites featured in that document are now included in option B of the Local Plan. “It is desperately important that people get behind the campaign to prevent this piece of eco-vandalism,” Packham said.

Letter from David Betts to the Daily Echo, 29 March 2017: IT WAS good to see Chris Packham’s views on option B/C of the Eastleigh Local Plan in your paper. I totally agree that to drive a road through the north Bishopstoke area will be nothing short of ecological vandalism in respect of the damage that will ensue to the areas of precious ancient woodland. There has been much comment from Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) regarding the fact that the new road will not actually pass though the woodland, but this is disingenuous to say the least! Click ‘more’ to read David Betts’s other reasons why EBC would be wrong to choose options B and C for its forthcoming Local Plan.

ADD UPDATE, 29 March 2017: A big ‘thank you’ to all who have helped us make real progress in the campaign to save our area from destructive, ill-considered development – otherwise known as options B and C of Eastleigh’s emerging Local Plan. On 15 December more than 300 residents attended a full council meeting in Hedge End, requiring an overflow room with TV monitor for those who could not get into the chamber itself. Beforehand we sent all councillors a consultant’s report that demolished the case for options B and C (6,000+ new houses and a new link road to the M3 at Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak – see above). The report also demonstrated convincingly that alternative options in Allington Lane offer a much more…

Daily Echo, 28 March 2017: TV NATURALIST Chris Packham has branded plans for housing in Hampshire as a “piece of eco-vandalism”. Mr Packham has voiced his fears over the future of wildlife in Eastleigh in light of plans for homes and a new road in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke. The plans are known as options B and C in the borough’s Local Plan and propose building houses near ancient woodland such as Stoke Park Woods, Upper Barn and Crowdhill Copse woods. The presenter of BBC’s Springwatch has now backed ADD’s campaign, saying: “It is desperately important that people get behind the campaign to prevent this piece of eco-vandalism. The council is guilty of shabby politics. The plans are bad for wildlife and bad for humans.”

Daily Telegraph, 27 March 2017: Chris Packham, the television naturalist, is backing a campaign to save the ancient woodland that inspired his passion for nature.  Stoke Park Woods, in Eastleigh, Hampshire, are threatened by plans to build more than 6,000 homes on greenfield land and have the houses served by a bypass carved out between two protected woods. The plans also threaten the River Itchen, designated as a Special Area of Conservation.  Packham said, “Stoke Park Woods are where I learnt about wildlife as a kid, where I discovered my first kestrel nest.”

Hampshire Chronicle, 21 March 2017: THE Angling Trust has written to Eastleigh Borough Council to protest against its plans for 6,000+ new houses and major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (options B and C of its Local Plan), saying that the proposals endanger the health of the River Itchen.  The letter states: “The trust, as the national representative body for all forms of recreational fishing, is concerned that plans to build thousands of homes on or near the River Itchen’s Special Area of Conservation [SAC] would cause irreparable damage to one of the world’s most iconic chalkstreams… It is an offence under EU law to damage an SAC and were this to happen the UK could be found wanting by the Court of Justice.”

CPRE, March 2017: In a thought-provoking new report, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) reveals that road-building is failing to provide the congestion relief and economic boost promised, while devastating the environment. It directly challenges government claims that ‘the economic gains from road investment are beyond doubt’; that road-building will lead to ‘mile a minute’ journeys; and that the impact on the environment will be limited ‘as far as possible’. The report shows how road building over the past two decades has repeatedly failed to live up to similar aims. As Eastleigh Borough Council considers its Local Plan options, will it listen to this compelling evidence? Click ‘more’ for the report and a short video summarising its conclusions.

ADD UPDATE, 16 March 2017: Action against Destructive Development is fiercely politically neutral. We may nonetheless speak out if a politician makes a statement that seriously misleads the public – regardless of which party they represent. Such is the case with the latest Lib Dem ‘Focus’ newsletter in Bishopstoke. The March ‘Focus’ assures residents that options B and C, namely plans to build thousands of houses and a road between three stretches of valuable ancient woodland known collectively as Stoke Park Woods, will not damage the woodland, which is much loved and well used by residents. Focus accuses people who say otherwise of “irresponsible scaremongering”. However, the newsletter makes no mention of a warning from the Woodland Trust (which exists to protect woodland) that the…

ADD UPDATE, 10 March 2017: At Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s full council meeting on 15 December last year, Keith House, EBC’s leader, told the 300+ local residents present: “[I want to pick up on] one comment, which is the suggestion that has been made by some that this council would destroy ancient woodland [woodland that has been in existence since at least 1600] at Stoke Park Woods or Crowdhill Copse – absolutely not. This council, I am confident, will not see the disruption of any ancient woodland [even] if we were to progress ultimately with any development at Bishopstoke/Fair Oak [so-called options B and C of the council’s emerging Local Plan]. So these things matter… when developers come to us saying you’ve got to have houses between two sets of woodlands,…

Country Life, 9 March 2017: In Hampshire, the council at Eastleigh is considering a plan to put 6,300 homes on green fields, served by a bypass squeezed between two ancient protected woodlands once used by King John. Equally serious is that the bypass will intrude on and then cross the River Itchen, which enjoys the EU’s highest level of protection as a Special Area of Conservation. Conservation organisations are livid, particularly the Woodland Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The scheme is opposed by three local Tory MPs and local Green Party MEP Keith Taylor. The EU fine for damaging a Special Area of Conservation could be about €40 million (£34.2 million). The Government stated recently that ancient woodlands should be as protected as green fields.

Hampshire Chronicle, 7 March 2017: EASTLEIGH council has come under fire from a member of the European Parliament for plans to build more than 6,000 homes near Winchester. MEP Keith Taylor said he wants council chiefs to reconsider its plans for homes and a new road in Fair Oak and Bishopstoke, known as options B and C in the borough’s Local Plan. A draft plan is due to be published this Spring. Mr Taylor said the development could impact the River Itchen and that failing to look after the river, which as a Special Area of Conservation has the highest possible protection in EU law, could mean the UK facing charges in the EU’s Court of Justice.  A spokesperson for Eastleigh council declined to comment.

ADD UPDATE, 5 March 2017: Further to the open letter that Mims Davies, Conservative MP for Eastleigh, sent to ADD last week, in which she spoke positively about the progress she is making to lobby for the Chickenhall Lane Link Road (CLLR), we invited Keith House, Liberal Democrat leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, to share his views with us too. Whilst Hampshire County Council and the highways consultants supporting the developers’ proposals for option E have concluded that development in Allington Lane does not require the construction of the CLLR, this new road would open up land for housing and employment uses in a very suitable location and provide a genuine bypass for traffic going through the centre of Eastleigh. ADD is therefore an enthusiastic…

ADD UPDATE, 3 March 2017: ADD has received an open letter from Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh, in which she criticises Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) for the delay in its emerging Local Plan and its preference for options B and C, namely the development of 6,000+ new houses and a new road at Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak. In her letter, Mims Davies also notes with dismay the council’s claim that the principal alternatives to B and C are not feasible without the much-wanted Chickenhall Lane Link Road.  She believes this to be incorrect, and two very separate issues. That said, like the 1,100+ people who have signed this petition in support of the Chickenhall Lane Link Road, she says she is actively lobbying for the road, which she…

ADD UPDATE, 2 March 2017:  ADD has long argued that Eastleigh Borough Council’s options D and E (around Allington Lane) for its Local Plan provide the best solution to Eastleigh’s housing needs.  Anyone reading the report prepared by planning consultant, West Waddy, last December will see just how compelling the arguments are – whether viewed from a planning, financial, human, practical or environmental perspective. Surprisingly, given the strong desire in certain quarters to push through options B and C (at Allbrook, Fair Oak and Bishopstoke) as quickly as possible, EBC’s own infrastructure report largely agrees with our analysis, describing B and C as the riskier way forward. So EBC was absolutely right to vote unanimously at its meeting on 15 December to keep all options…

Hampshire Chronicle, 15 February 2017: A WINCHESTER parish councillor has expressed concerns over plans to build more than 6,000 homes in Eastleigh. Chairman of Owslebury Parish Council John Chapman appealed for more information on options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan, which would see development north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, as the parish was already experiencing a disruptive volume of commuter traffic. In an open letter, he asked how EBC would reconcile its obligations under its transport plan to reduce residents’ need to travel by car with its preference for development proposals which offered poor access to the railway. Councillor Chapman’s letter comes as an application to build 250 homes in Fair Oak, in option C, was approved by EBC last month.  

ADD UPDATE, 14 February 2017: In the wake of last week’s government housing white paper, in which Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid gave greater protection to ancient woodland, we have decided to publish a four-minute version of Rob Byrne’s video (first shown last summer) exposing the scale of destruction of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s options B and C for its proposed Local Plan (on land north of Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak).  As more and more people now know, these options, which include the development of 6,000+ new houses and a major new road on beautiful countryside that includes no less than SIX sites of ancient woodland are – incredibly – the council’s favoured plan, so take a look at what…

ADD UPDATE, 9 February 2017: Given the extent to which Eastleigh Borough Council is ignoring the views of local residents with regard to its Local Plan deliberations, we are urging all our supporters to sign a new UK Government and Parliament petition calling for communities to be given back “the right to decide where houses are built”.  The release this week of the government’s housing white paper means the time is ripe for applying such pressure! In particular, the petition “calls for a parliamentary debate on government Housing and Planning policy over building on greenfield land and seeks community right of appeal on planning decisions and the removal of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.” It goes on: “Too many communities are now forced…

Jennifer Gosling, 8 February 2017: Recently posted on Facebook, this short video by local resident Jennifer Gosling gives a glimpse of the wonderful sight and sound of the thousands of rooks that congregate daily during winter months each year in the fields and woods of Bishopstoke.  At dusk, they normally display and then fly to roost in Upper Barn Copse.  If Eastleigh Borough Council chooses options B and C of its emerging Local Plan, these fields – which are not only the rooks’ meeting ground but also a valuable corridor for an enormous variety of other wildlife – will be lost forever.  Join our campaign against options B and C now!  We must do all we can to ensure future generations can also enjoy these truly magnificent aerial displays.

Hampshire Chronicle, 4 February 2017: A CAMPAIGN group has hit out at plans to build more than 200 homes in Eastleigh in advance of a Local Plan for the area, which lies close to Winchester City Council district. An application to build 250 homes in Fair Oak was approved at the local area committee meeting in Bishopstoke.  Prior to the meeting, Action against Destructive Development Eastleigh (ADD) outlined their opposition to developer Drew Smith’s application to build on Mortimers Lane. In an open letter, the group stated the application at Pembers Farm undermined Eastleigh Borough Council’s consultation process on its new Local Plan, which determines future development in the borough. A draft Local Plan is due to be published later this year.  

ADD UPDATE, 31 January 2017: On Wednesday 25 January 2017, upwards of 100 people watched Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Area Committee for Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath approve an outline application for “up to 250 dwellings” at Pembers Hill Farm in Fair Oak.  After some well-argued speeches from objectors, local residents were shocked by the way in which what will probably be one of the most significant planning applications in Fair Oak/Bishopstoke this year was decided in about 15 minutes with no discussion at all of the issues.  Given that EBC’s stated remit of Local Area Committees is “to discuss major planning applications and to review progress on important projects”, and that “members of the public are invited to attend these meetings and to…

PEMBERS HILL FARM DECISION, 26 January 2017: It was very nearly a full house at Stoke Park Junior school yesterday evening, with around 100 people looking to see whether Eastleigh councillors from the Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committee would stand up for their communities. Chairman Trevor Mignot started the evening by telling everyone that the decision on Drew Smith’s application for 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm was not about options B and C (of Eastleigh’s Local Plan) and the application had to be seen as a standalone decision.  He warned speakers from the public (all of eight whom were against the application) to avoid raising the merits of B and C. Planning Officer Dawn Errington opened the item with a long…

ADD UPDATE, 25 January 2017: Gin Tidridge, Independent Parish Councillor for Bishopstoke and an ADD spokesperson, today spoke with Julian Clegg on Radio Solent’s breakfast show about local residents’ objections to the hostile planning application for 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm on Mortimers Lane in Fair Oak. As ADD supporters know, Eastleigh councillors from Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath will TONIGHT make a decision on this application. We encourage anyone who objects to this proposal – which signals the start of option C in Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s emerging Local Plan – to attend this meeting to support friends and neighbours who will be urging councillors to reject the plan.   THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 7PM TONIGHT (25 JANUARY 2017) IN MAIN HALL, STOKE PARK JUNIOR…

MEETING NOTICE: 7PM TONIGHT (25 JANUARY 2017), MAIN HALL, STOKE PARK JUNIOR SCHOOL, UNDERWOOD ROAD, BISHOPSTOKE SO50 6GR.  Eastleigh councillors from Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath will TONIGHT decide upon the hostile planning application from developer Drew Smith for 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm on Mortimers Lane in Fair Oak.  We encourage all of you to attend this meeting to support friends and neighbours who will urging councillors to reject this application.  Councillors have received many letters and documents detailing powerful arguments why this application should be rejected, including from their own officers! A strong turnout tonight will leave them in no doubt about local residents’ disgust towards this calculating, irresponsible and unsustainable proposal.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

Upham Parish Council, 24 January 2017: In a strongly worded letter to Eastleigh borough councillors, David Ashe, chairman of Upham Parish Council, has today set out powerful arguments why they should reject Drew Smith’s hostile application for 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm on Mortimers Lane in Fair Oak.  A Local Area Committee comprising of councillors from Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath will decide on the application at a meeting tomorrow evening. Mr Ashe writes: “The arguments put forward for approval of this very opportunistic application, by both the applicant and your own officers’ report, rely heavily on the suggestion that a decision has already been taken to progress with B and C as the preferred option [of the council’s emerging Local Plan, namely for…

Forum, January 2017: As a planning battle in the Hampshire borough of Eastleigh rages, Mark Baylis looks at the challenges facing Eastleigh borough councillors, the two key options they are deliberating, the environment in which they are making decisions, and their motivation for choosing one option over another, despite evidence to the contrary.  The lesson for rural communities everywhere, Mark suggests, is to remain vigilant and take nothing for granted.  

CPRE Hampshire, 20 January 2017: In a letter to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) today warns councillors against approving the hostile application for 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm at a key meeting this Wednesday. CPRE writes that a decision on this site “is premature and would prejudice any objective assessment of the strategic options that are being considered as part of the Local Plan process,” giving tacit approval for options B and C, and therefore pre-empting “any possibility for interested parties to comment and challenge these options through the examination in public.” CPRE also notes that EBC has not updated its housing needs to take account of the newest official projections, and is not therefore in accordance with current government guidance.

Mims Davies MP, 19 January 2017: In a strongly worded letter to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh, today urges councillors to “listen” to local residents and “resist” the hostile application for 250 new houses at Pembers Hill Farm. She writes: “My primary reason for objecting to this application is that it constitutes a move towards options B and C in the emerging Local Plan… [EBC’s own report] recognises this.  If the Local Area Committee [which meets on Wednesday to discuss this issue] pass this application it will be clear that the council does take the Local Plan making process seriously.” She concludes that if the application is approved, she will refer the matter to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

ADD OPEN LETTER TO BISHOPSTOKE, FAIR OAK AND HORTON HEATH LOCAL AREA COMMITTEE, 18 January 2017: As some of you will have seen, developer Drew Smith has submitted an application to build 250 houses at Pembers Hill Farm on Mortimers Lane, within option C of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s emerging Local Plan.  On the back of this application, which is recommended by EBC in its ‘report pack’ (see Item 7, pp 19-62), ADD has written the following open letter to the borough councillors for Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath requesting that they reject it at their Local Area Committee meeting next Wednesday, 25 January.   ADD urges all our supporters to come to this meeting at 7.00pm next Wednesday.  It will be in the Main Hall at Stoke…

ADD UPDATE, 16 January 2017: As Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) enters the final few months of its deliberations over its emerging Local Plan, councillors are weighing up the pros and cons of two strategic development areas: one in Allington Lane (an area previously earmarked by EBC for such a development, though no longer favoured) and the other in Allbook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (a new option currently favoured by the council). In this update, we set out as clearly as we can why we believe the proposals in Allington Lane are the more sustainable, deliverable and affordable of the two.  To do this, we have drawn from a wide variety of documents, including those prepared by EBC (until it unaccountably decided to change its mind); Bovis/Hallam Land, the developers…

ADD UPDATE, 15 January 2017: Researchers helping ADD have done it again!  Two weeks ago we uncovered this document, supported by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) in 2011 at the time of its last Local Plan process, which designates land it now wishes to build on in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C for its emerging Local Plan) as ‘Historic Park and Gardens’.  (Read article here.) This time we have gone one step further: believe it or not, our team has unearthed a 2000 Eastleigh transport strategy paper, supported by the then council leader, Keith House, the very same one who leads the council today, which recommends “that no greenfield sites be made available for housing development other than at Allington” (today referred…

ADD UPDATE, 12 January 2017: Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s last full council meeting on 15 December 2016, Gin Tidridge, a spokesperson for ADD and independent parish councillor at Bishopstoke, gave an interview to BBC Radio Solent on EBC’s deliberations concerning its emerging Local Plan.  We now have a clip of that interview so that those who were unable to hear it can now do so. As you’ll hear, Gin focuses on the ecological and traffic obstacles to options B and C, north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, and urges EBC to think more carefully about the alternative options at Allington Lane.  She also hints at the reasons why EBC are currently preferring the Bishopstoke / Fair Oak option over the Allington Lane one.…

Rob Byrne, 11 January 2017: Thanks to many local families sending in their photographs of our Stoke Park countryside, Rob Byrne has compiled a wonderful ‘picture show’ ‎depicting our love of these ancients woodlands and fields and the happiness and tranquility we gain from being in them. As Eastleigh Borough Council enters the final few months of its Local Plan deliberations (we expect a decision in March/April), we urge councillors not to choose their proposals for 6,000+ new houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C), which would cut a swathe through this magnificent countryside. Indeed, we should stress that whilst EBC claims its plans ‘save’ the woodlands per se, the proposed development on the inter-woodland fields would – as night…

ADD UPDATE, 6 January 2017: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) has today responded to an article in the Daily Echo on 16 December 2016, which erroneously suggested that the council had chosen to pursue options B and C at its full council meeting on 15 December 2016. The article, under the headline “Eastleigh council agree local plan to build 6,000 homes on land north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak”, caused considerable concern, particularly to the several hundred people who had attended the meeting. In a statement to the Daily Echo, EBC confirmed that “no formal decision was taken by the council… and any future proposals will be subject to a full consultation process.”  We thank EBC for this clarification.  Click ‘more’ below to view EBC’s statement.

ADD UPDATE, 4 January 2016: Having enjoyed a relaxing Christmas break, ADD researchers are back at work gathering information to ensure Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) adheres to due process with regards to its Local Plan deliberations; is unable to ride roughshod over evidence it has previously supplied (and paid for through taxpayers’ money); and plays straight in its communications with the public. As part of this work, we have uncovered this document, supported by EBC in 2011 at the time of its last Local Plan process, which gives a ‘landscape character assessment’ for Bishopstoke and Fair Oak.  It is important because, as readers know, EBC is now seriously considering that its new Local Plan should revolve around a ‘strategic development’ of 6,000+ new houses, and…

Hampshire Chronicle, 22 December 2016: CONTROVERSIAL plans for thousands of homes and a main road in countryside south of Winchester would be “catastrophic”, according to one city councillor.  A swathe of land south of villages including Colden Common and Twyford would be developed under plans being considered by Eastleigh Borough Council. Cllr Susan Cook who represents the two villages, spoke at a heated Eastleigh council meeting in Hedge End. As the council prepares its Local Plan, it agreed to focus its research on a strategic site across the north of the borough in the Bishopstoke and Fair Oak area, known as options B and C, and close to Colden Common. Development would include 6,000 homes and a bypass running between Fair Oak and Allbrook, linking to the M3.

ADD UPDATE, 19 December 2016: In advance of last Thursday’s Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) meeting on its emerging Local Plan, ITV Meridian ran a news bulletin on the proposals to build 6,000+ houses and a major new road in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C). With thanks to Rob Byrne, click ‘More’ below to see a recording of the report. Compelling viewing!

ADD UPDATE, 19 December 2016: In advance of last Thursday’s Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) meeting on its emerging Local Plan, BBC South Today ran a news bulletin on opposition to the proposals to build 6,000+ houses and a major new road in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C).  With thanks to Rob Byrne, click ‘More’ below to see a recording of the report. Compulsive viewing!

ADD UPDATE, 19 December 2016: In front of several hundred passionate local residents, Eastleigh’s Liberal Democrat-controlled council last Thursday voted to keep all its options for its emerging Local Plan on the table with the caveat that future research efforts would be focused on the extent to which obstacles to the proposals in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C) are surmountable.  Opposition to these options was clearly articulated by local residents, in set piece speeches, through a show of hands, and by dint of boisterous clapping in support of arguments against them. Given the magnitude of the obstacles facing options B and C – on financial, technical and environmental grounds – there was widespread disappointment that the council didn’t vote to…

ADD UPDATE, 16 December 2016: A million thanks to the hundreds of local residents who travelled all the way to Hedge End last night to attend Eastleigh Borough Council’s meeting on its emerging Local Plan.  Thanks to the excellent representations from the public, councillors got a very clear message as to the level of opposition to the proposed development in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, so-called options B and C, and the growing mountain of evidence against them.  Of the external contributions to the meeting, only one person spoke in favour of options B and C – and that was an agent to the developers in that area! Our long-held objective for the meeting was to ensure that councillors keep an open mind as to the two…

Mims Davies MP, 16 December 2016: Mims Davies MP last night joined many activists, residents, parish councillors and community groups who attended Eastleigh Borough Council’s meeting on its Local Plan in Hedge End. At the meeting, the council agreed to continue pursuing all options but focus its feasibility studies on large strategic sites across the north of the borough in Bishopstoke and Fair Oak (so-called options B and C). Davies said: “I am as disappointed as many of the members of the public with the current outcome where options B and C will be the focus going forward for further investigation. I believe [council leader] Keith House and his group have got this wrong and they know it.”  

David Ashe, chairman of Upham Parish Council, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 15 December 2016:  I’m speaking to you tonight as chairman of Upham Parish Council on behalf of Upham and with the consent of John Chapman, my opposite number at Owslebury, on behalf of his parish also. However I’m not just here to tell you about your lovely local national park and how you mustn’t build anywhere near it. We are realists and know that you have some hard choices to make.  Equally we know you will do your neighbours the natural courtesy of making sure that the decision you take is the best possible one given all the evidence available, and we welcome [Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council] Keith House’s words on this. Hard…

John Lauwerys, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 15 December 2016: Over the coming months leading to the draft local plan in May 2017, you have collectively the awesome responsibility of determining forever the future physical character of the borough.  The paper on the two strategic growth options show either could make the biggest contribution to delivering the additional housing required by 2036.  The SWOT analysis shows there are many more weaknesses and threats in the case of options B and C (in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak) compared to D and E (around Allington Lane).  The report makes clear further investigation is required before any decision can be reached on which to include in the draft Local Plan which must be evidence based if the…

Matthew Waterman, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 15 December 2016: Approximately 85% of existing journeys in the vicinity of options B and C are made by car.  The addition of 6,000+ extra homes in these areas, which are rural, not urban, would introduce approximately 30,000 extra traffic movements to the already heavily congested local roads, per day. It has however been suggested that these options would be supported by a ‘strategic relief road’.  It is very concerning to local residents that additional traffic would be encouraged to pass under the small railway bridge at Allbrook, which already suffers from significant flooding.  Inviting additional vehicles to Mortimers Lane would be similarly detrimental in that it can often take longer than 10 minutes to join Winchester Road,…

Daily Echo, 15 December 2016: A HAMPSHIRE MP has urged civic chiefs to listen to residents ahead of its meeting on the controversial delayed Local Plan.  Eastleigh MP Mims Davies has written a letter to the borough council calling on them to reject options B and C of the emerging Local Plan.  Those options would see more than 6,000 houses and a new major road being built in the area north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, also impacting on villages south of Winchester.  A council meeting in Hedge End tonight is expected to draw hundreds of residents against these proposals and in favour of alternative plans, options D and E, on land between Allington Lane and Burnetts Lane, north of the M27.

ADD UPDATE, 15 December 2016: Last night, ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s full council meeting tonight, EBC called a meeting of all parish councillors to discuss the council’s emerging Local Plan.  To keep readers abreast of our activities, we thought you would be interested to see the letter we wrote to all parish councillors ahead of last night’s meeting.  As you’ll see, this letter includes links to the proposals by developers Highwood and Drew Smith for options B and C (Allbrook-Bishopstoke-Fair Oak), and by Bovis and Hallam Land for option E (Allington Lane South).  Interesting reading!  We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at tonight’s meeting at 7.00pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 4BZ. STARTS Dear Parish Councillors,…

ADD UPDATE, 14 December 2016:  TOMORROW IS THE DAY.  We need EVERYONE to attend Eastleigh Borough Council’s full council meeting to register our opposition to options B and C of the council’s emerging Local Plan.  As supporters know, not only are these options the most environmentally damaging of EBC’s proposals but they also offer no prospect of linking to a sustainable public transport system.  They will therefore – without doubt – generate huge additional traffic congestion for the whole area. PLEASE DON’T THINK OTHERS CAN GO FOR YOU.  Set everything aside: COME YOURSELF – AND BRING FRIENDS TOO.  This is a community event that is vital to our future.  WE MUST SHOW LARGE NUMBERS!  If you do nothing, it will be too late. The meeting will…

ADD UPDATE, 14 December 2016: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s recently released infrastructure report on the viability of options for its Local Plan raises some very serious practical concerns regarding the planned new road essential to the viability of options B and C.  As readers know, this road would run from Mortimers Lane in the east towards the M3 in the west, squeezing under the Allbrook railway bridge along what is now the Highbridge Road. Amongst the sea of concerns, the report highlights several problems with the tiny Allbrook railway bridge, which – if the new road is built – would need to accommodate an estimated 30,000 extra daily car journeys resulting from the proposals’ 6,000+ new houses. Although another EBC paper identifies (p.13) the need…

Letter to the Daily Echo from the chairmen of Owslebury Parish Council and Upham Parish Council, 13 December 2016: EASTLEIGH Borough Council is meeting on 15 December to consider the next steps in the production of a much needed Local Plan.  The plan could well affect not only the residents of Eastleigh, but those in Winchester district as well.  So it is a matter of great public concern the evidence base for the plan has still not been published, with many fundamental reports (such as a proper assessment of the traffic implications) still awaited.  Surely Easteigh Borough councillors at their meeting tomorrow cannot narrow down the options until there is proper assessment, publicly available, of the related implications?

ADD UPDATE, 12 December 2016: An Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) infrastructure report updating councillors on the viability of options for its Local Plan reveals a multitude of reasons why councillors will be swimming against the tide of evidence if they decide to pursue options B and C – in Allbrook, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak – at its crucial council meeting this Thursday.  Significantly, buried at the back of the report (pp 17-18), is a new reason: Network Rail’s potential right to share in the massive profits of the scheme, which – if true – would likely blow it out of the water. Amongst numerous infrastructure-related obstacles, the report majors on problems associated with the proposed North Bishopstoke ‘link road’, which would carve its way through glorious…

Daily Echo, 10 December 2016: Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) this week delivered a planning consultant’s report to Eastleigh Borough Council ahead of its full cabinet meeting on 15 December, where policy-makers will discuss the local plan for the area.  ADD’s report outlined the group’s opposition to the council’s favoured option to develop in the area north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, which would see 6,000+ houses and a new major road being built (the so-called options B and C). Instead it outlined why the council should pursue preferable options near Allington Lane.  In a covering letter to the report, ADD appealed to the council “to engage in constructive dialogue before ruling out these options.”  

ADD UPDATE, 9 December 2016: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s cabinet have today published a paper ahead of the crucial full council meeting next Thursday (15 December) recommending that the council pursues options B and C.  Setting out some of the factors in the debate, the paper recommends “the Council confirms its commitment to act in progressing” these proposals. This heads-up makes it EVEN MORE ESSENTIAL that all of us who believe options B and C represent an unsustainable and undeliverable solution to Eastleigh’s housing problems attend the council meeting to register our opposition to them. Not only are they the most environmentally damaging options but they also offer no prospect of linking to a sustainable public transport system.  They will therefore – without doubt – generate huge…

ADD UPDATE, 8 December 2016: A 2002 book sponsored by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), which pledges to protect threatened wildlife in the fields and ancient woodland of Eastleigh, has been uncovered by ADD researchers.  Should EBC proceed with proposals to build 6,000+ houses and a major new road north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak – so-called options B and C for its Local Plan – the development would carve through the book’s ‘Stoke Park Priority Area’, which is home to a wide range of rare species including the ‘purple emperor’ butterfly, dormice and lesser quaking grass (see picture above). ‘Wild about Eastleigh – a biodiversity action plan for the borough’, the foreword for which was written by TV naturalist Chris Packham (click here for Part One; and here for…

ADD UPDATE, 5 December 2016: As you know, ADD believes that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) will make a crucial decision regarding its proposed Local Plan at its full council meeting on 15 December.  In particular, we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive options, namely options B and C.  We are extremely grateful to everyone who has sent letters to their respective Eastleigh Borough Councillors, Winchester City Councillors, MPs and other elected representatives expressing concern and consternation about these shocking proposals.  If you have yet to do so, we thought this letter, published in the Daily Echo on 1 December 2016, might spur you into action!

ADD UPDATE, 2 December 2016:  Ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s council meeting on 15 December, at which we believe it is likely to decide in favour of its Local Plan’s options B and C, its most destructive proposals, all EBC councillors have today received a report from planning consultants West Waddy, commissioned by ADD.  This report looks at the options through the prism of nationally recognised planning best practice and environmental guidelines, as well as EBC’s own research and publicly stated objectives.  ADD’s covering letter (below) emphasises the “momentous” nature of the decision and urges the councillors to recognise the report’s conclusion that options D and E “are overwhelmingly the best suited to meet Eastleigh’s housing needs from a practical, environmental and traffic perspective”. COVERING LETTER Dear Councillor,…

Daily Echo, 24 November 2016: RESIDENTS and council leaders in Colden Common have backed plans to fight thousands of new homes.  Nearly 200 people gathered at Colden Common Community Centre to hear about the ongoing campaign by Action against Destructive Development (ADD).  The group is battling plans by Eastleigh Borough Council to build thousands of homes between Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Colden Common and Allbrook to meet government targets.  The homes could be served by a major road which campaigners fear will “merge” the villages.  Residents in the village gave strong backing to ADD and its campaign to ensure that the borough’s housing needs are met in a way that protects the countryside and communities.

ADD ALERT, 23 November 2016: At its next council meeting on Thursday 15 December, we believe Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) is likely to decide in favour of its Local Plan’s options B and C, its most destructive proposals, which would involve the development of 6,000+ houses and a major new road in, and north of, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak.  We are appealing to anyone who is against these options to attend this meeting to leave EBC councillors in no doubt about the strength of local residents’ opposition.  The meeting will be at 7.00pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 4BZ.  If you need a lift, let us know.  We look forward to seeing you there!  So far: Over 1,400 people have…

New ‘night blight’ maps for England, released by the Campaign to Protect Rural England this summer, show the problem of light pollution worsening across the country. The maps, which come at a time of increasing awareness of the harmful effects of light pollution on the health of people and wildlife, provide powerful support for CPRE’s campaign to encourage local councils and developers to take light pollution into account when planning new developments. In Hampshire, CPRE is campaigning for a Green Belt for South Hampshire, which would protect the countryside between the urban conurbations of South Hants and the New Forest National Park to the east and the South Downs National Park to the west and north. This, they say, would not only assist with urban…

ADD UPDATE, 20 November 2016: It was standing room only as around 175 people packed into the community centre at Colden Common to hear an update on the Eastleigh development plan from representatives of Action Against Destructive Development (ADD).  The meeting gave its strong backing to the action group and its campaign to ensure that the borough’s housing needs are met in a way that protects top-quality countryside and the characters of local communities. Opening the meeting, Kate Beal Blyth of ADD said their campaign had the support of a wide range of organisations and individuals.  She read a message from local MP Steve Brine, thanking the action group for its work and pledging his continued help. John Lauwerys told the gathering that there were…

ADD UPDATE, 18 November 2016: Yesterday we asked you to write to your local Eastleigh Borough Councillors or Winchester City Councillors ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s crucial meeting on 15 December in which we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive proposals for its Local Plan, namely options B and C.  Whilst we gave you correct email addresses for all the relevant Eastleigh Borough Councillors, Winchester City Councillors, Hampshire County Councillors and MPs, we made a mistake regarding a physical address.  Should you wish to send a letter rather than an email, please find all the correct details below.  Thank you again for all your support.  Our campaign is gathering incredible momentum! NEWSFLASH: EBC LOCAL PLAN – CRITICAL MOMENT APPROACHING. PLEASE WRITE…

ADD UPDATE, 17 November 2016: ADD believes that Eastleigh Borough Council will make a crucial decision regarding its proposed Local Plan at its full council meeting on 15 December.  In particular, we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive options for the plan, namely options B and C.  As time is now ticking fast, we are urging everyone in Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Owslebury, Allbrook, Colden Common, Twyford and Otterbourne to write to their local Borough Councillors to ask what they are doing on your behalf to prevent this planning and environmental catastrophe, either directly (if you live in Eastleigh) or by taking up the case with neighbouring politicians (if you live within Winchester City Council). Borough Councillors should know what their…

ADD UPDATE, 16 November 2016: Last week we invited Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), to respond to two recent letters supporting ADD’s position, namely one from Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh, and the other jointly from Mims Davies, George Hollingbery, MP for Meon Valley, and Steve Brine, MP for Winchester. On Sunday 13 November, Deborah Mitchell, received the following reply from Keith House: Dear Deborah‎, Having reviewed the content of your website it would not be appropriate for the Borough Council to comment on yours or any other one-sided campaign group’s site.  The Council has a duty to weigh policy objectives rationally and will do so over the coming weeks and months. ADD can best add value if it contributes in this…

At the Colden Common Public Meeting on 14 November 2016, Steve Brine, MP for Winchester, asked for the following statement expressing his support for ADD to be read out: “First of all, a HUGE thank you to ADD for all they are doing. The group have, from a standing start, put together an effective and coordinated campaign which is never easy. I am in regular contact with ADD and also with my colleagues in Parliament, Mims Davies MP and George Hollingbery MP. We are as one in wanting Eastleigh Borough Council to listen to your aims and objectives. The Council are seemingly wanting to impose options B & C as its preferred way forward for mass development, and the consequences this would have for my constituents…

ADD UPDATE, 11 November 2016: Nearly five months after refreshing our website and, more generally, committing to contribute more forcibly to the debate about Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s forthcoming Local Plan, over 1,400 people have told us they are opposed to the ‎proposed development of 6,000+ new houses and a major new road in, and north of, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, namely EBC’s options B and C.  We have also heard strong criticism for these plans from the three affected MPs, as well as 20 organisations with a direct stake in the area.  Lastly, we have also heard doubts about these plans from local borough councillors. Extraordinarily, bar some remarks from EBC Leader Keith House alluding to his support for options B and C, we have not yet…

ADD UPDATE, 29 October 2016: We are holding another public meeting at 7.00pm on Monday 14 November 2016 at the Colden Common Community Centre (St. Vigor Way, Colden Common, SO21 1UU) to explain what we’ve found out so far about Eastleigh Borough Council’s developing Local Plan. This meeting follows similar recent public gatherings in Upham on 29 September 2016 and in Bishopstoke on 17 October 2016, and is intended mainly for residents of Colden Common, Highbridge, Brambridge and Twyford. That said, if you missed either of the first two meetings and would like to come, we’d be delighted to see you! We want everyone to know that EBC is seriously considering the development of 6,000+ houses (over three times the size of Colden Common) and a major new…

ADD UPDATE, 8 November 2016:  As ADD supporters know all too well, one of the main objections to options B and C of Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan is the implications for traffic in the area north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak.  The proposed Bishopstoke ‘link road’ (or so-called bypass), if indeed this folly is affordable, would not only be an environmental disaster but would also fail to deal with the traffic.  Given the predictable bottleneck caused by the tiny ‎Allbrook railway bridge, the much-increased volumes of traffic would look for other ways to reach the M3 and beyond. A transcript of a recent Winchester Southern Parishes meeting, at which EBC Leader Keith House spoke about EBC’s Local Plan process, shows that House himself is…

ADD UPDATE, 5 November 2016: In the run-up to Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s cabinet and full council meetings in December, Council Leader Keith House has been speaking with people regarding his thoughts about EBC’s impending Local Plan. At a Winchester Southern Parishes meeting on 24 October, House spoke about some of the representations his Council had received from organisations during the consultation period at the beginning of the year. As a newly available transcript of the meeting shows, House said that while certain organisations had provided some “pretty helpful suggestions”, others sent in “much less helpful responses”, whilst Network Rail had not offered a response at all.  House described this as “not unusual”, adding: “We find Network Rail one of the hardest agencies to deal…

In an email on 1 November 2016 to Gin Tidridge, Independent Counsellor for Bishopstoke, Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh, sets out what she has been doing to win government backing for the Chickenhall Lane Link Road, a recent petition for which now has over 740 signatories, and her strong concerns over Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s options B and C for its Local Plan.  She has recently met senior ministers to discuss both issues and promises to continue to campaign tirelessly to ensure EBC adopts a Local Plan that is supported by local residents.  ADD urges all elected officials to share their views with us on the Local Plan and commits to sharing all views equally on our website.

Three Hampshire MPs have written an open letter to Eastleigh Borough Council asking it to halt “the unstoppable march” towards 7,200 new homes in Bishopstoke.  Eastleigh MP Mims Davies, Meon Valley MP George Hollingbery and Winchester & Chandler’s Ford MP Steve Brine have all expressed concerns the council wants the so-called options B and C as its preferred way forward for mass development in the borough.  All three politicians want to see the council look towards solving traffic and infrastructure issues before committing to any solution.  They also say the council, and its leader Keith House, are going against the wishes of residents and doing so without proper consultation.  

At the Bishopstoke Public Meeting on 17 October 2016, Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh, asked for a statement to be read out expressing her wish that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) “get on with producing a Local Plan that represents the best deal for this area.”  She said she believes EBC needs to choose the “right” Local Plan and that she “completely opposes options B and C.”  She added that she stands alongside Action against Destructive Development (ADD) to get options B and C thrown out. ADD urges all elected officials to share their views with us on the Local Plan and commits to sharing all views equally on our website.

ADD UPDATE, 1 November 2016: Strengthening the case for options D and E of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s Local Plan (see map above) is the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership’s Solent Strategic Transport Investment Plan published in May this year.  This Plan proposes a new light rail network from the centre of Southampton, through Southampton Parkway station to Fareham. The plans show stations at Eastleigh Riverside and another central to the area of options D and E at Allington Lane.  This network would allow direct public transport for journeys to Eastleigh, Southampton and Portsmouth, and would link to the rail and air network for longer journeys.  This would do much to mitigate the increased traffic caused by the building of 6,000+ houses and would create tremendous opportunities…

As supporters of ADD are aware, if Eastleigh Borough Council proceed with options B and C for its Local Plan, it will build a new North Bishopstoke link road from Mortimers Lane in the east towards the M3 in the west, squeezing under the Allbrook railway bridge along the way. With the Plan’s 6,000+ new houses creating an estimated 30,000 more daily car journeys, this bridge is clearly too narrow, too low, and too prone to flooding to cope (it even causes serious traffic jams today). With no plans to do anything about it, this bridge is one factor making a mockery of the viability of options B and C. Newly available transcripts of recent meetings with EBC councillors, including Leader Keith House, demonstrate that…

ADD UPDATE, 20 October 2016: Stokewood Surgery, Fair Oak, has written to Eastleigh Borough Council saying that they would seriously struggle to cope with the increased patient numbers options B and C would bring.  This position was unanimously agreed in a meeting with other local surgeries, Blackthorn Surgery (Hamble), Bursledon Surgery, Hedge End Medical Practice, St Luke’s Surgery (Botley) and West End Surgery. Writes Senior Partner Dr Richard Shelly on behalf of all the partners at Stokewood Surgery: “We [the above local surgeries] considered that options A, B and C would create the most difficulties for the practices.  Those most directly affected felt these options would be an intolerable strain on the surgeries and there is no easy way to increase premises to provide adequate medical services to the…

ADD UPDATE, 20 October 2016: More than 200 Bishopstoke residents crammed into the local Methodist church on 17 October for a meeting called by ADD, opposing plans by Eastleigh Borough Council to build an extra 6,500 homes in the area. Gin Tidridge of ADD told the meeting: “Unless we do something, we’re going to lose what makes this area special, and I feel passionate about that.” One ADD supporter, Rob Byrne, said the Council’s plans threatened outstanding countryside and woodland and would destroy the gaps separating individual communities. “We’re not a suburb of Southampton, and we don’t want to become one,” he said, to thunderous applause. The proposals are set out in the Eastleigh development plan, published for consultation by the Council last December. Although ten options were…

ADD UPDATE, 8 October 2016: We are holding another public meeting at 7.00pm on Monday 17 October 2016 at the Methodist Church Hall, Sedgwick Road, Bishopstoke, where we will share what we’ve found out so far about Eastleigh Borough Council’s developing Local Plan. Still likely to be included in this plan are 6,000+ new houses and a major new road, as shown in our map above. This could double the current population of Fair Oak and Bishopstoke and will: Destroy much-loved, precious countryside. Destroy the unique identity of each of our communities. Contribute further to congestion and strain our infrastructure even further. If you value this area, please consider supporting us by: Signing our petition to get the critical Chickenhall Lane Link Road built as soon…

Hampshire Chronicle, 2 October 2016: The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in Hampshire recently hosted a reception to celebrate 50 years of the charity’s work in protecting the Hampshire countryside. In her speech to the charity’s many long-serving volunteers, supporters and partners, Dee Haas, county branch chairman, highlighted some of its key successes, including the creation of the South Downs National Park (SDNP). She added: “We believe that one of the best ways to encourage urban regeneration and prevent urban sprawl in the south of the county is to create a tract of Green Belt along the north side of Fareham, Portsmouth and Southampton, creating a buffer for the SDNP and around Eastleigh and the south of Winchester to the New Forest National Park.”…

ADD UPDATE, 30 September 2016: Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s cabinet voted on Tuesday to delay their Local Plan process so that it does not go live until mid-2018, at least a year later than originally anticipated. The cabinet stated, ‘Due to the need to “roll forward” the plan evidence and resulting plan policies and spatial strategy to 2036, a substantial amount of additional time and resources is required. This is necessary to ensure the most sustainable and deliverable locations for proposed development are included and justified in the Plan.‘ The delay is driven by EBC’s need to show their large-scale development plan of over 6,000 houses to be ‘deliverable’ to the Planning Inspector – which means more preparation is required.  The July 2016 Council Paper indicates that a…

Gin Tidridge, Independent Councillor, Bishopstoke, 17 September 2016: There is a house in Bishopstoke where each neighbouring house has been empty for some time. In Eastleigh, the total number of empties has gone up from 951 in 2014 to 988 in October 2015. The number of long term empty properties has gone from 255 to 311 over the same period.  This may be only a percentage of the empty homes in the borough – if a home has furniture in it, it may be classified as a second home, not empty, even if nobody has lived there for years. With so much demand for housing, it seems incongruous that EBC may not be working to turn at least some of the long term empty properties back into homes.

ADD UPDATE, 16 September 2016: If Eastleigh Borough Council proceed with options B and C for its Local Plan, it will build a new North Bishopstoke link road from Mortimers Lane in the east towards the M3 in the west, squeezing under this Allbrook railway bridge along the way. With the Plan’s 6,000+ new houses creating an estimated 30,000 more daily car journeys, this bridge is clearly too narrow, too low, and, as this picture shows, too prone to flooding to cope (it even causes serious traffic jams today). With no plans to do anything about it, this bridge is one factor making a mockery of the viability of options B and C.

ADD UPDATE, 16 September 2016: A lorry crashed and became stuck under a railway bridge in Romsey, Hampshire, on 14 September, paralysing a town’s road network for several hours, reported the Daily Echo yesterday.  Police closed the road in both directions while recovery teams launched a mission to free the stranded truck. Locals say it is almost the 20th time in just ten years a lorry has got stuck under the bridge crippling roads around local homes, and say ‘lives are being put at risk’. This bridge has 14’3” of headroom, whereas the Allbrook bridge which is at the west end of Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s new link road for options B and C, has only 12’1” of headroom.  Lorries have on a number of occasions also…

David Ashe, 9 September 2016: As you will see in this map of options B and C, this area would comprise 195 hectares (482 acres) of housing development, mostly located between Crowd Hill and Mortimers Lane, with small infill sites around Allbrook.  In addition, the developers Highwood propose 72 hectares (178 acres) of development on EBC designated ‘priority diversity areas’. Developments are already underway building in these supposedly protected areas.  The plan necessitates a 6.5 kilometre-long distributor road running from Mortimers Lane to the M3 at Allbrook, through some of the prettiest green fields in Hampshire.  The development would be broken up by 16 Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation, and would stretch all the way up to the South Downs National Park at Lower Upham,…

ADD UPDATE, 9 September 2016: We will be holding a Village Meeting for Upham and Owlesbury residents (only, due to capacity restrictions) on the Eastleigh Local Plan 2016-36 at 7.30pm on Thursday 29 September 2016 in Upham School Hall. If options B and C go ahead, we will have a new settlement of over 6,000 new homes, twice the size of Bishop’s Waltham, on the unspoilt countryside south of Upham, between Fair Oak and Bishopstoke and reaching right up to the boundaries of the South Downs National Park.  This could result in 30,000 extra car journeys each day, creating dangerous traffic levels on our local lanes. We believe that this development is neither deliverable nor sustainable but, if we do nothing, it will happen. Come to the…

ADD UPDATE, 7 September 2016: Our new website, and recent postings, have led to a massive surge in interest in our campaign to ensure Eastleigh Borough Council chooses the right Local Plan. We now urgently need more volunteers to staff our campaign and maintain this remarkable momentum. If you have experience in, or would like to turn your hand to helping us with, issues like digital media, PR, journalism, fundraising, research, planning, the law, leafleting or indeed anything you think we might need, please get in touch today. You would join a stimulating and fun group, pulling together for a cause we’re passionate about, and we would love to have you board!

Rob Byrne, 3 September 2016: In this brilliant new video, Rob Byrne reveals the truly shocking scale of Eastleigh Borough Council’s development plans north of Bishopstoke, so-called options B and C. From Lower Upham and the South Downs in the east to the motorway junction at Chandler’s Ford in the west. Starting with East Horton Golf Club, at the far south-eastern extremity of option C, which would be completely built on, Rob takes us through an extremely disturbing journey through what – for now – remains some of the UK’s finest countryside. Help us prevent this outrage now!

Eastleigh MP Mims Davies has backed a petition by local activists demanding the Chickenhall Link Road is built. Mims met with Councillor Gin Tidridge, the petition’s coordinator from Bishopstoke Parish Council, yesterday to give her support to pressure group Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) in its campaign to “Get The Chickenhall Lane Link Road Moving” which has been supported by over 400 local residents. The petition is asking the leaders of Eastleigh Borough Council, the Solent LEP and Hampshire County Council, as well as the Chancellor and Ministry for Transport, to back Mims Davies’s continuing call for this long required road to be built.

CPRE Hampshire, 31 August 2016: Since a fairly frustrating Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) meeting at the end of July, CPRE Hampshire has been working alongside ADD on the next steps to fight options B and C.  CPRE asks you take the time to sign the petition to “Get the Chickenhall Lane Link Road Moving” – see link in article.  If this road was built it would open up a number of more appropriate development options for the council.    

Chris Tomkins/Rob Byrne, 29 August 2016: This great aerial photo by Chris Tomkins shows the extent of the destruction that options B and C would cause. Stoke Common Road is at the bottom of the picture, with Upper Barn and Crowdhill Copses in the middle of the picture, and Stoke Park Woods on the right. At the far top is the countryside north of Mortimer Lane, Fair Oak heading towards Upham. It’s important to realise the open countryside you see is only two thirds of the total ‘new town’ Eastleigh Borough Council is thought to be planning as Allbrook, Highbridge and the M3 are not visible.

Rob Byrne, 29 August 2016: In this video, Rob Byrne gives us a detailed exposé of the likely scale of the destruction that Eastleigh’s Lib Dem council are considering north of Bishopstoke – options B and C of their proposed Local Plan. It currently appears these options are – incredibly – the council’s favoured plan, so take a look at these stunning images now before it is too late.

Rob Byrne, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 21 July 2016: I wish to register my opposition to this massive new town, aka options B and C, set to blight our villages. I’d like to tell you about the rich wildlife habitat around the various fields and woods we locals refer to as Stoke Park Woods, and the fact that in the past the 4th Bishopstoke Brownies won a national award for a study of flora and fauna which was presented by David Bellamy in Northampton. I’d like to tell you about over six miles of rights of way that will be lost. I’d like to tell you about the incredible number of people that are able to access those rights of way by foot. Indeed…

Daily Echo, 25 August 2016: IT WOULD be easy to dismiss the self- styled group Action Against Destructive Development (ADD) as just another group of self- serving residents who appear determined to protect their own corner of Hampshire. They have already fought plans to build 6,000 homes near Eastleigh and made themselves a force to be reckoned with by attracting over 1,000 names to their petition. Now the group is targeting not the proposal to develop in the area but what it claims is inaction and unnecessary delay in forging ahead with a £120 million road plan to build a road.

ADD UPDATE, 24 August 2016: Today we launch our refreshed website. We hope you’ll read it and want to get in touch. Our aim is that it becomes a channel to reach and engage as wide a group of people as possible to get behind our campaign. Our battle to ensure that Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) chooses the very best, sustainably located, development options for Eastleigh’s new Local Plan is critical to our long-term future. In two weeks, on 8 September 2016, EBC’s cabinet is due to meet to decide the way ahead. This will be followed by a full council meeting which we hope as many of you as possible will attend. As soon as we know the date, we shall let you know.

Daily Echo, 22 July 2016: IT IS SEEN as a long-awaited solution to ease the traffic woes of thousands of Hampshire residents. And now a group of campaigners have launched a petition to make sure the Chickenhall Lane Link Road becomes a reality. Saying they are concerned there seems to be “much more talk than action”, they will send the petition to council chiefs and Government ministers in a bid to kickstart the plans for the new road. The link road would run north of junction 5 of the M27 from the A335 Southampton Road to Chickenhall Lane at an estimated cost of £120m. It’s a project which has been in demand from residents for 30 years and last year EastleighBorough Council leaders put the project…

Gin Tidridge, Independent Councillor, Bishopstoke, 18 August 2016: On 21 July 2016, Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) discussed the next steps for the Local Plan 2011-2036. I was at the meeting and this post represents my impressions of what happened – the minutes are available on the EBC website but sadly don’t appear to include the debate on the Local Plan. The key takeaway for me was that although EBC have been good at giving the public opportunities to voice our views, including those supporting the ADD campaign, we really aren’t considered important enough for our views to be influential.

Kate Beal Blyth, local Lib Dem businesswoman, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 21 July 2016: I run a long-standing business based in Wessex House and own a property in the borough too. I have lived most of my life in Eastleigh. Firstly, I’d like to say that I’m a card carrying Lib Dem and have actively campaigned with the team here. I did this because I truly believed in the good work the council did. For years I have proudly told my friends across the country how progressive Eastleigh is – especially when it comes to the environment. We were first out of the gate with green wheelie bins and food composting. The council-owned building my company resides in is covered with solar panels. Futuristic…

Lib Dem Bishopstoke Focus – Summer 2016: The long-proposed, and much-needed, Chickenhall Lane Link Road has received a boost from Eastleigh’s former Lib Dem MP Mike Thornton, and Eastleigh Borough Councillor Trevor Mignot in the Liberal Democrat’s summer 2016 edition of Bishopstoke Focus. Crucially, they say: “We’ll keep chasing until we get the result we need.” That’s great, because it’s exactly what we’re doing! But we need the result fast! If we’re to provide sustainable transport infrastructure for the 6,000+ new houses in Eastleigh Borough Council’s new local plan, we desperately need the Chickenhall Lane Link Road approved.

Sarah Le May, Councillor, Upham, 8 August 2016: Despite having received by far the largest number of objections to the initial proposals, our worst fears were confirmed last week when Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) decided that options B and C would be carried forward for further investigation. Although they will continue to try to establish some smaller scale developments, Eastleigh has broadly decided that the majority of its housing need up to 2036 should be met from a ‘strategic scale development’. They suggest that, after allowing for almost 10,000 dwellings that are already in the planning process, there will be another 6,500 required: with a potential for 6,200 new homes, options B and C are clearly their preferred options. Eastleigh claims not to be ruling…

Daily Echo, 22 July 2016: JEERS rang out as council chiefs secured a crucial step towards finalising a controversial blueprint outlining the framework for thousands of new homes in Hampshire. Scores of angry residents shouted from the public gallery as Eastleigh Borough Council bosses last night gave the green light to a major report outlining the town’s housing needs over the next two decades. Their decision came despite the town’s Tory MP Mims Davies making a rallying call for councillors to reject the report when she took to the podium – receiving a standing ovation from the crowds.

Mims Davies MP, 21 July 2016: Hampshire MPs Mims Davies and George Hollingbery have expressed concerns today about Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan, saying it again runs the risk of being thrown out by the planning inspector for a second time. The plan is currently in the early stages of development and sets out the policies to guide the future development of Eastleigh borough in the period up to 2036. It will be discussed by councillors tomorrow (Thursday). Eastleigh MP Mims said the scale of housing and commercial development required during this period and where it should be built must be enshrined in the local plan but it has to be valid.

David Lovegrove, ADD co-ordinator, presentation to Eastleigh Borough Council, 21 July 2016: I chair Stoke Residents’ Association in Bishopstoke and am co-ordinating a coalition of local organisations campaigning for ACTION AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT. I have been an architect for 40 years specialising in the design of new housing and schools. The paper prepared by your planning officer makes clear that the Council’s housing target cannot be met without one of two strategic developments, either B and C or D and E. We don’t disagree. It then argues that B and C are the most likely be to deliverable. Why is this? We think mainly because your leadership believes that the proposed North Bishopstoke bypass will solve traffic congestion. This is a NONSENSE and we believe…

Hampshire Chronicle, 12 June 2016: RESIDENTS in Twyford have been urged to fight plans for thousands of new homes being built on countryside.  Chairman of Stoke Residents Association David Lovegrove has formed a group called Action Against Destructive Development, which is battling plans by Eastleigh Borough Council to earmark 6,000 homes between Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Colden Common and Allbrook.  As part of the campaign, Mr Lovegrove is rallying support from nearby villages including Twyford and Colden Common, Upham, Owslebury and Fair Oak.

Gin Tidridge, Independent Councillor, Bishopstoke, 15 June 2016: I am really pleased and heartened to see that so many individuals and organisations took the trouble to make a representation as part of the public consultation process. It took EBC until June to meet its obligation to make those representations public. They are now available and it is really impressive to see 467 high quality representations expressing major concerns with option B.  

If options B and C go ahead, this bridge – at Allbrook Lane – would be at the west end of the proposed North Bishopstoke link road. It’s clearly too small to accommodate the vastly increased traffic flows from 6,000+ new homes and, without any plans to expand it, surely makes the new road unviable. If you agree this bridge will cause huge traffic jams, we need your help to stop options B and C. View Daily Echo article of 17 March 2016 below.  

CPRE Hampshire, 16 February 2016: In response to Eastleigh Borough Council’s Local Plan 2011-2036 ‘Issues and Options’ document, CPRE has evaluated the options in terms of their impact on the countryside. This process has confirmed that options B and C are the most damaging to the finest landscape in the borough, and the least acceptable in environmental terms, leading to an unnecessary new road across fine countryside, and probable adverse impacts on the River Itchen SSSI/SAC and the South Downs National Park. These sites are also the furthest from Southampton, the railway and links to the M27. To that end, CPRE will be firmly objecting to options B and C, and will propose an alternative scenario to meet the requirements. View CPRE’s full response below.

Wave 105.2 FM, 6 February 2016: Campaigners will march through countryside near Eastleigh on Saturday morning to try to stop it from being built on. 3700 homes could be built on fields north of Bishopstoke. It is one option being considered in the Eastleigh Borough Local Plan (2011-36). EBC says it needs more homes to meet demand. But The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is urging the council to scrap or dramatically scale back two of the options under consideration.