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 and Bishop’s Waltham. This draft Plan will be examined by an independent planning inspector later this year.
As part of our virtual hustings, Jan Warwick, Conservative candidate for Badger Farm and Oliver’s Battery on Winchester City Council, has sent us this message:
“Many thanks indeed for giving me this opportunity. I have been writing about my fears concerning EBC’s Local Plan to my residents in Otterbourne, Compton and Shawford since 2016. It is a truly terrible plan.
Of particular concern to me – not least because I am the Environment and Transport Portfolio Holder for Winchester City Council as well as the Hampshire County Councillor for the Winchester Downlands Division – is the soundness of the draft Transport Plan. The proposed new road in option B crosses my divide along Highbridge Road into the Winchester City Council District. There are real concerns around the phased delivery of the houses in relation to provision of this road, i.e., from a transport perspective this is an isolated site in a non-sustainable location. Significant investment would be needed upfront for highways and other sustainable transport before the homes are built out. Any delay in delivery or construction would have a severe traffic impact on the already busy surrounding road network and villages. In my area this includes the bordering villages of Otterbourne, Compton and Shawford.
For this reason, and many others, I believe Eastleigh’s Local Plan to be unsound and will oppose it all the way.”
Jan Warwick, Conservative candidate for Badger Farm and Oliver’s Battery on Winchester City Council
