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 it has no organised way to protect the borough from over-development or make provision for ordered development affecting the lives of thousands of local people.
The draft Local Plan incorporating a proposed SGO (Strategic Growth Option) – known as Options B&C – proposes some 5,300 houses on the northern edge border of Winchester and Eastleigh, threatening a changed way of life for the communities I have represented in Colden Common, Twyford, Hursley, Otterbourne and Shawford for almost a decade.
I have worked for many years alongside campaign group ADD, and other local MPs, to resist this Plan. Today is a chance for me to address the inquiry directly and give a voice to the thousands of my constituents who, while hugely impacted by the SGO if it went ahead, have no say over it because they live in the Winchester district and as such don’t get the chance to elect councillors in the Eastleigh borough. We are very worried about that ‘democratic deficit’ but also traffic chaos in the villages I represent as well as the environmental impact on many fronts.
There is no question in my mind, and many of those I speak on behalf of, that this Plan with its disastrous options B&C should be thrown out.'”
Steve Brine, Conservative candidate for Winchester
