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 on 22nd November by attending the protest at the Botleigh Grange Hotel.
With any housing development there can be controversy. However, we must use a sensible and balanced approach in our choices for development locations, prioritising residents, infrastructure and the environment. The planned new communities north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak comprising 5,300 dwellings and serviced by a new road that will cut through our precious countryside, endangering wildlife and woodland, does none of that. It is also difficult to reconcile how Eastleigh Borough Council can declare a Climate Emergency, then push for the destruction of the very areas that help prevent such an emergency.
Quite apart from the environmental and ecological damage the new road will bring, it is hard to imagine how it will alleviate the traffic congestion Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Eastleigh experience on a daily basis, and despite claims to the contrary, I fear it will make things worse.
Throughout the whole Local Plan exercise, Lib Dem run Eastleigh Borough Council, for whatever reason, has refused to properly consider other options. I have lived in Eastleigh for 30 years and, like other residents, remember how years ago £385,000 (possibly more) was spent by the council on work to progress a Major Development Area in Allington Lane. It had plans for road, rail, schools, doctors and other key infrastructure. The Council even went so far as to officially name the new town “Allington” before suddenly calling a halt to the project.
As a local person I understand the need for housing, but not only should this be the right kind of housing, it should also be in the right place. SGOs 5 and 6 are, quite simply, the wrong place. Anyone who lives in the area, understands the area, or shares a love of nature, knows that.”
Sam Jordan, Labour candidate for Eastleigh
