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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 Steve Sollitt and Sarah Bain, who had made the same decision during the summer.

“I did not become a borough councillor to avoid difficult decisions,” he says. “I have always stood up for environmental issues.

“My main concerns about the Local Plan are around the risks to the ancient woodland. I don’t think it comes close to offering the reassurance needed about the woodland and copses to the north of Bishopstoke.

”I was led to believe that environmental sustainability was one of the key policies of the council. The leadership has put me under pressure, but I refuse to buckle or vote against my conscience on this red-line issue.”

While the prospect of dissident councillors queuing up for the toilet at the crucial point during next month’s council meeting may raise a few smiles, the pressure being put on those councillors from the majority Liberal Democrats who oppose the leadership is anything but a joke.

“It is clear from conversations with council colleagues that there are significant concerns about elements of the local plan,” he says.

His stance has been strongly welcomed by campaigners against options B and C of the emerging Eastleigh Local Plan.

Richard Izard, a senior Liberal Democrat councillor in neighbouring Winchester and a former city mayor, said: “I warmly congratulate Mark Balaam on having the courage of his convictions.  I desperately hope that my friends and colleagues in Eastleigh will have the good sense and flexibility to avoid what would otherwise be an environmental and social disaster.”

Cllr Mark Balaam’s resignation statement in full:

“I have resigned from the Liberal Democrat Group on Eastleigh Borough Council. This is largely out of concern with the direction that the council seems to be heading with the Local Plan.

“My resignation from the group is a result of finding it difficult to reconcile voting on conscience with blind loyalty to a party position. 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 and I will not be tied down to a party line on a fundamental issue as the Local Plan. Accusations of predetermining the Local Plan are simply not true. I have serious concerns about the proposals put forward in the draft Local Plan. You can’t predetermine a Local Plan as it is not planning but planning policy.”

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 Plan, updating you on the campaign’s progress and hearing your views and questions. Please join us if you can: simply come to the meeting most convenient for you.

• Tuesday 14th November, 7pm, Colden Common Community Centre
• Wednesday 22nd November, 7pm, Bishopstoke Methodist Church
• Monday 27th November, 7:30pm, Fair Oak Village Hall
• Thursday 30th November, 7pm, St Peter’s Church Hall, Boyatt Wood

Click here to see a flyer on the meetings: please distribute as many as you can, either via email or hard copy.

WHY IS BUILDING OVER 5,000 HOUSES NORTH OF FAIR OAK AND BISHOPSTOKE THE COUNCIL’S MOST DESTRUCTIVE OPTION?

Destructive traffic impact

• The development will only be accessible by road, far from infrastructure. The Campaign for Better Transport agrees that local traffic will get will get worse without a public transport solution.
• The new road will use the current Allbrook railway bridge, frequently flooded, too low for large lorries: it cannot ease Eastleigh’s truck congestion.
• The council expects the 26,000 extra daily traffic movements to be channelled via the M3 at junction 12. We assess congestion will increase on all local roads, through our communities, villages and the South Downs National Park.

Destructive to our communities

• The Campaign to Protect Rural England supports our campaign, concerned that quality of life will be damaged in our area.
• Fair Oak will double in size, with fewer accessible green spaces.
• The new road will divide Allbrook, splitting the village in two.

Destructive to our woods, River Itchen and wildlife

• The Woodland Trust say that building the road in the 120 metre gap between Crowdhill Copse and Upper Barn Copse will damage their Sites of Ancient Natural Woodland.
• The Test and Itchen Association are concerned that the road will damage the Itchen which has European conservation status.
• Acres of countryside and miles of footpath will become housing estates. Naturalist Chris Packham describes this as “eco vandalism”.

PLEASE COME TO ONE OF OUR UPDATE MEETINGS AND – IN PARTICULAR – MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THE KEY COUNCIL MEETING ON MONDAY 11 DECEMBER: 7PM AT THE HILTON AT THE AGEAS BOWL, SO30 3XH

TO CONTACT US, PLEASE EMAIL US AT [email protected]

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 meeting on 11 December (Please, please attend this meeting: We need EVERYONE against options B and C to be there). As we have stated all along, we are fighting for an evidence-based Local Plan for Eastleigh and will continue this struggle until we have won. 

In this post, we publish the statement made by Keith Taylor, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East region. He said:

“This gathering is extremely important in highlighting strong public opinion to the proposed development [north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak – options B and C] and the significant impact it could have on the local environment if it goes ahead in its current form.

“I recognise the urgent need to address a social housing crisis, not just in Eastleigh but across the UK. But I would, along with the local community, urge Eastleigh Borough Council to reconsider its plans for the development of over 5,000 dwellings and a new road in an area of open countryside around many ancient woodlands and the River Itchen to the north of the borough.

“Instead of putting our precious and protected environment at risk, the council could be taking a more ambitious approach to developing brownfield sites and redeveloping older estates. Instead of giving the green light to building for private landlords and ignoring the need for social housing, they could and should be providing for the people most in need.

“Residents and local groups are rightly concerned about the impact this development could have on the River Itchen, a world famous chalk stream which brings jobs and money into the local economy and which has been afforded the highest possible protection in EU law by virtue of its designation as a Special Area of Conservation under the Birds and Habitats Directives.

“Eastleigh Borough Council has a legal obligation to maintain the integrity of this site. Any developments likely to have a significant effect on a Special Area of Conservation must be subject to an appropriate assessment and take a precautionary approach that would halt development if serious adverse effects cannot be ruled out. Failing to carry out such an assessment properly, as a ClientEarth report reveals is a persistent problem, or failing to comply with its legally binding outcome would be a breach of EU law. In such circumstances, the Commission would be entitled to issue proceedings in the Court of Justice.

“The Birds and Habitats Directives are the cornerstones of the EU’s biodiversity policy. They are hoping to conserve Europe’s most endangered and valuable habitats and species irrespective of political or administrative boundaries. I urge Eastleigh Borough Council to revisit the options and work towards a strategic development that puts the environment and local residents at its heart and supports a development that truly addresses the housing needs of the region.

“I would therefore like to share my objection to the plans in their current state and call on Eastleigh Borough Council to take into consideration the opinion of local residents and the important environment in the area of the proposed development.”

OTHER READING

Angling Trust and Fish Legal urge Eastleigh Borough Council to change course on Local Plan, ADD Update, 8 November 2017

Woodland Trust rebuffs leader of Eastleigh council on claim that plans for 5,200 houses adequately protects ancient woodland, 19 September 2017

Woodland Trust urges Eastleigh Borough Council to reject plans for 5,200 houses in north of borough, ADD Update, 11 September 2017

Allbrook and North Boyatt PC: Options B and C “direct attack” on wildlife, with “increased” traffic risk, ADD Update, 5 September 2017

Chris Packham video opposing options B and C goes viral with over 17,000 views, ADD Update, 25 April 2017

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 meeting: We need EVERYONE against options B and C to be there). As we have stated all along, we are fighting for an evidence-based Local Plan for Eastleigh and will continue this struggle until we have won. 

In this post, we publish the statement made by Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal. He said:

“The Angling Trust is the representative and national governing body for angling. Fish Legal takes legal action on behalf of its member clubs and fishery owners for damage to their property rights. We employ six lawyers who fight civil cases for compensation on behalf of its members and we have successfully taken several judicial reviews of the government and its agencies. Both organisations have a large number of members with fishing on the River Itchen and we are here to represent their interests, and the River Itchen as part of our national angling heritage.

“The Itchen is the fly fishing equivalent of Lord’s, Wembley, Wimbledon Centre Court or the Tate Gallery. It is revered throughout the world as the home of fly fishing and day tickets to fish can cost as much as £300. I have fished with people in North and South America, where there is some of the best game fishing in the world, who speak in hushed tones about the River Itchen.

“It is probably the finest example of a chalk stream in this country – a country which has 80% of the world’s chalk streams. They are our coral reefs, our rainforests, and yet we have allowed them to be depleted by over abstraction and pollution. The Itchen has not escaped and is suffering low flows and pollution from phosphates from sewage and agriculture. Salmon, trout and invertebrate populations are all severely depleted, and this has an impact on bird numbers. It has the highest level of environmental protection under international law as a Special Area of Conservation and as such there is not only a legal duty to avoid deterioration but to restore it to good ecological status. World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-UK and the Angling Trust recently organised a site visit to the river for six MPs including the Sports Minister and the Water Minister to highlight the magnitude of the environmental challenges faced by the river.

“All the options for development would, as Eastleigh Borough Council admits [in its Local Plan report for this meeting], cause more pollution and abstraction and would therefore set back efforts to restore the river. No meaningful mitigation is proposed, but the council says that ‘avoidance and mitigation measures will be incorporated as necessary’, without offering any detail about how this might be done. Given that the river is already over-abstracted and polluted, and climate change is exacerbating these problems, such measures would need to be very substantial indeed. They might, for example, require retrofitting of water efficiency devices to hundreds of thousands of existing homes and major investment to several sewage treatment works. As such, they should form the centrepiece of this document rather than being a casual aside – if we are to meet our legal obligations to restore the river and adapt to climate change.

“There is no mention of run-off from the link road and hard surfaces in the developments which will contain pollutants, or soil erosion during construction, and how these would be managed to avoid diffuse pollution of the river and an increase in flood risk.

“Water is only mentioned 21 times in a document with nearly 15,000 words. Trout are not mentioned at all. There is one mention of ‘Salmon and other fish’ in a footnote and angling is not mentioned, despite its enormous local and international importance. The River Itchen gets just nine mentions, which is outrageous for a development plan of this magnitude adjacent to a globally-significant and threatened environment, with enormous cultural heritage importance.

“The [council’s preferred] plan needs to be substantially revised to set out a vision for truly sustainable development which improves and enhances the River Itchen while meeting the need for more homes, rather than a plan which builds more homes while inadequately managing the impact on this very special place.”

Image credit: thanks to Thomas Hallett for the picture above of the River Itchen

OTHER READING / MEDIA:

View BBC clip on Southern Water’s forced cut in River Test abstraction (includes ADD interview), ADD Update, 12 July 2017

Eastleigh’s monster housing plan hit by rail and water double whammy, ADD Update, 9 July 2017

Southern Water faces large cut in River Test abstraction, BBC News, 6 July 2017

Chris Packham video opposing options B and C goes viral with over 17,000 views, ADD Update, 25 April 2017

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 questions. Please join us if you can: simply come to the meeting most convenient for you.

• Tuesday 14th November, 7pm, Colden Common Community Centre
• Wednesday 22nd November, 7pm, Bishopstoke Methodist Church
• Monday 27th November, 7:30pm, Fair Oak Village Hall
• Thursday 30th November, 7pm, St Peter’s Church Hall, Boyatt Wood 

Click here to see a flyer on the meetings: please distribute as many as you can, either via email or hard copy.

WHY IS BUILDING OVER 5,000 HOUSES NORTH OF FAIR OAK AND BISHOPSTOKE THE COUNCIL’S MOST DESTRUCTIVE OPTION? 

Destructive traffic impact

• The development will only be accessible by road, far from infrastructure. The Campaign for Better Transport agrees that local traffic will get will get worse without a public transport solution.
• The new road will use the current Allbrook railway bridge, frequently flooded, too low for large lorries: it cannot ease Eastleigh’s truck congestion.
• The council expects the 26,000 extra daily traffic movements to be channelled via the M3 at junction 12. We assess congestion will increase on all local roads, through our communities, villages and the South Downs National Park.

Destructive to our communities

• The Campaign to Protect Rural England supports our campaign, concerned that quality of life will be damaged in our area.
• Fair Oak will double in size, with fewer accessible green spaces.
• The new road will divide Allbrook, splitting the village in two.

Destructive to our woods, River Itchen and wildlife

• The Woodland Trust say that building the road in the 120 metre gap between Crowdhill Copse and Upper Barn Copse will damage their Sites of Ancient Natural Woodland.
• The Test and Itchen Association are concerned that the road will damage the Itchen which has European conservation status.
• Acres of countryside and miles of footpath will become housing estates. Naturalist Chris Packham describes this as “eco vandalism”. 

PLEASE COME TO ONE OF OUR UPDATE MEETINGS AND – IN PARTICULAR – MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THE KEY COUNCIL MEETING ON MONDAY 11 DECEMBER: 7PM AT THE HILTON AT THE AGEAS BOWL, SO30 3XH

TO CONTACT US, PLEASE EMAIL US AT [email protected]

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 and C of its emerging Local Plan).

Whilst this is a nuisance, we have long suspected that the council, led by Keith House, would do this – and have therefore prepared accordingly.

Our first step is to ensure we have a MASSIVE turnout at the meeting so that the council is left in no doubt about the vast coalition of local and national forces against options B and C. Council officers are expecting gigantic numbers, hence why they have chosen the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, so we must not disappoint them! Emphasising the extent of our opposition, and clearly explaining our reasons for doing so, will make a significant difference when we argue our case, with the help of our lawyers, consultants and many friends, in front of the planning inspector next year.

Whilst we are optimistic that the planning inspector will rule against options B and C, for all the many reasons we have articulated over the last 18 months, we must leave NO STONE UNTURNED!

Without ADD and our supporters, and the generous financial contributions we have received to date, we are convinced we would not have got this far. Indeed, it is almost certain that EBC would have already taken the decision to pursue options B and C and the bulldozers would be close to moving in.

Should EBC ignore all evidence to date, and the will of the people, and take the foolhardy decision to pursue options B and C, we will have to gird our loins and raise significantly more sums of money to pit ourselves against the council’s taxpayer-funded team of officers and consultants – all of whom are straining to reach the conclusions demanded of them by their political masters! 

We trust our supporters will rise to this challenge, to save the finest parts of our borough, and of our neighbouring communities, from needless destruction.

We are preparing the ground for this ENORMOUS fundraising effort and, if we have to, will be in touch again in the new year to ask for contributions.

ADD’s team of volunteers continues to work tirelessly in the pursuit of an evidence-based Local Plan for Eastleigh and we will only intensify our efforts as we enter the final stretch of our fight.

We hope our supporters, of which we know there are thousands, will do the same.

In the first instance, PLEASE mark the evening of Monday 11 December in your diaries to attend the MOTHER OF ALL MEETINGS and encourage all your neighbours and local friends to do the same. Eastleigh NEEDS YOU so please pause your busy lives for this one evening and help save the borough’s future from a reckless, short-term planning decision.

TOGETHER WE WILL WIN THIS BATTLE AND SEE COMMON SENSE TO PREVAIL! THANK YOU!

To join our cause, please email [email protected]

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) only aimed at people who live, work or own a business in Eastleigh. What if you live just outside Eastleigh, visit the town regularly to do your shopping and will be significantly impacted by future development in the borough? Extraordinarily, it seems EBC’s survey is not interested in the views of these people. 

(b) clearly aimed at reaching the conclusion the council wants to reach, namely by asking a load of irrelevant questions and steering virtually everyone to say that their number one priority regarding the forthcoming Local Plan is “traffic congestion”. We know this already; we just dispute the council’s preferred solution (its ‘options B and C’), which involves building 5,200 new houses north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, miles from any public transport, and accompanied by a major new road which travels devastatingly close to ancient woodland and through the very low Allbrook railway arch (so can’t take HGVs)! You couldn’t make it up!

In its letter to neighbouring parish councillors, EBC encourages “local people to give their views”. Given the survey has been carefully crafted to give the council what it wants, we encourage you to:

(a) complete the survey by filling in the free text boxes to record your disgust at its preferred plan; and

(b) if you live in a Winchester parish impacted by Eastleigh’s Local Plan, to contact your local parish councillors to make sure they attend the meeting on 8 November fully armed with the ferocity of your views. Please note that this will be your only chance to get your views to EBC in person. MOST AMAZINGLY OF ALL, THE COUNCIL’S “PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT” ON ITS LOCAL PLAN DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY MEETINGS WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC!

As we enter the last couple of months of EBC’s tortuous Local Plan decision-making process, there will be a few council meetings (which the public can observe) that we REALLY need EVERYONE to attend. The next one will be on Monday 11 December, at which we anticipate the council will formally choose to pursue options B and C – after which the battle really starts! More on this meeting next week.

In the meantime, thank you for your continuing support. Together we will win this fight and see common sense prevail! 

LETTER FROM EASTLEIGH BOROUGH COUNCIL ABOUT ITS EMERGING LOCAL PLAN TO NEIGHBOURING LOCAL PARISH COUNCILS (DURLEY, BISHOP’S WALTHAM, OTTERBOURNE, UPHAM, OWSLEBURY, COLDEN COMMON, AND TWYFORD)

STARTS

Dear Councillor,

Local Plan Engagement: Shaping Your Community

You will be aware that Eastleigh Borough Council is working on a new Local Plan for the Borough. The Borough Council last met in July to hear an update and the ‘Emerging Local Plan’ was noted. At that time Councillors were informed that work was still ongoing and no decisions could be made until all of the technical work and a public engagement was completed. The technical studies are ongoing and we began our public engagement ‘Shaping Your Community’ on Wednesday 11 October. The outcome of this along with the other studies will all be considered before reporting back to the Council in December this year.

As part of our engagement we would like to invite you to a meeting to share your views about what matters most to you and local residents in your community. This will be held on Wednesday 8 November  at 6.30pm at Upham Village Hall, Mortimers Lane . Local Parish Councils have also been invited and as neighbouring Councils/ Councillors you have a very important role to play in both sharing your views and those of your residents with us directly and we hope you will also raise awareness of the engagement within your area. 

We ask that you share this information as widely as possible in your areas and encourage local people to give us their views. This engagement is a two way process, by which we want to get information to our residents and businesses and we also want to receive views and information from them. Once the Council has adopted a draft Local Plan we will be inviting comments on the detail as part of a formal consultation process. However, until then we want to improve understanding of what a Local Plan is and why it is important to have one.  It is also important that we get the views of our residents and businesses from across the borough and in surrounding areas, about what matters most to them.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 8th November, in the meantime it would be helpful if you can help ensure that we hear from as many residents and businesses as possible from your area. The link below takes you to our website where people can find out lots of information about our emerging local plan including a short video, along with background information to help them understand why we want their views and how this information will be used. https://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/planning-building/planning-policy-and-implementation/consultation-and-news/shaping-your-community.aspx

Thanks

Eastleigh Borough Council

Agenda

1.         Welcome & Introductions

2.         The Local Plan

Current situation, and going forward

3.         What have we been asking residents?

4.         What have we learnt so far?

5.         Group discussion:

Discuss within local areas:

what are the top four priorities and why?

what other issues are residents raising?

6.         Feedback

7.         Next steps 

ENDS

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 groups, other expert organisations and local residents.

To be viable options B and C require a major new road linking Mortimers Lane in Fair Oak to Allbrook Way en route to Junction 12 of the M3 which, far from alleviating congestion, would make things worse.  Much has been written about the effect that this road would have on ancient woodland north of Bishopstoke and on the River Itchen, but it would also have a hugely detrimental impact on the village of Allbrook.

I have sketched the route of the proposed new road in red on the plan of Allbrook parish above. The precise route has yet to be finalised, but options are limited to avoid protected areas and minimise impact on existing properties.

It can be seen that many properties at the lower end of Pitmore Road would be demolished north of the present mini-roundabout linking Allbrook Hill, Pitmore Road, and Highbridge Road. The road would then traverse the area of open land east of Allbrook Way before joining it. This location is already designated for about 95 houses as identified in EBC Development Proposals 6.4.81 under Policy AL.1 – an area of about 7.7 Hectares.

Due to the steepness of the land in the way of the new road, extensive grading and excavation would be required to reduce this gradient – otherwise it would exceed the maximum permitted gradient for a main road. An enormous cutting would result, causing massive division of the village of Allbrook. Meanwhile, the adverse drainage issues would exacerbate flooding risks lower down.

The fact that the new road would have to pass under the existing, very low Allbrook railway arch is further evidence that this is a ludicrous plan! Although the Highbridge Road approach to the arch (from the east) would be straightened to improve sight lines, this would still mean that a major new road, destined to carry vastly increased HGV traffic, would be routed under a rail arch (E1/196 BML1) that has a clearance of just 3.7 metres (12’ 1”). Indeed, it is well known that this arch been the recipient of NUMEROUS ‘bridge strikes’ extending back years!

Increased traffic would only add to the risk of strikes, and with rising traffic speeds likely to exacerbate the problem further, the spectre of extensive damage to the arch and disruption to the main London rail line running overhead, is a real one.

I identify a purely Allbrook perspective here. The negative effect on irreplaceable ancient woodland north of Bishopstoke and heavily protected areas in River Itchen Special Area of Conservation only add to the completely unacceptable nature of options B and C in the emerging Local Plan.