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 given to other possibilities, something that ADD has consistently argued.
“This is a tremendous day for those thousands of ADD supporters who have worked tirelessly and contributed hard-earned cash to support our efforts. The inspector’s letter means that Options B and C can no longer go ahead and that the plan should be fully evidence-based, which has always been our main aim,” said ADD chair John Lauwerys.
“The leader of Eastleigh Borough Council appears to be in denial claiming that this marks some kind of victory for him, which suggests that he hasn’t actually read the inspector’s letter. However, ADD would be delighted to work with the council and share our knowledge to help it come up with a local plan that genuinely meets the housing needs of the area and does not cause avoidable environmental damage.”
