COUNCILLORS have told of the “devastating” effect they believe a development could have on communities and raised fears that a historic Hampshire village could end up a suburb.

They were making their case to a public inquiry, which finished yesterday, hearing developers’ appeal against Eastleigh Borough Council’s refusal of 106 homes in Botley.

A key argument concerns whether council policies preventing building on countryside and in the gaps between communities are still valid without a five-year housing land supply.

The council argues the homes proposed by Bewley Homes for east of Sovereign Drive, rejected by the council last summer, would diminish the gap between Hedge End and Botley, but the developers’ legal representatives say it would deliver much-needed housing and that building in community gaps was needed, as recent council decisions have shown.

Colin Mercer, chairman of Botley Parish Council, on behalf of residents, said though there was a need for more housing, this should not be a “gateway to bad planning” or reducing facilities for existing residents.

He said deer, hawks and herons used the site and called on the inspector to consider the effect of bringing the ancient village of Botley closer to a modern settlement. “In our view, it’s important to keep this

narrow gap at its present size,” he said.

“Reducing the size of the gap would affect Botley village, which would become a suburb of Hedge End.”

Cllr Mercer also said the parish council suspected this development was a “test case” for further development.

Botley ward councillor Rupert Kyrle, inset, said the development would diminish the gap and put other land at risk of similar development on countryside or gaps between communities nearby or within the borough.

He added: “It’s loss will be devastating for local residents and will completely change the feel and identity of this community forever.”

Earlier in the day, council leader Keith House told the hearing the area and borough was committed to appropriate development, pointing to schemes recently allowed including 1,100 homes at Stoneham Park in Eastleigh and 166 homes at Berry Farm in Bursledon.

He said schemes for the area, including the controversial 1,400 homes at nearby Boorley Green and 250 homes at Pylands Lane, Hedge End, which brought people out on to the streets of Botley in protest in 2013, added to the area’s future infrastructure, particularly roads, as opposed to the “piecemeal development” of this appeal.

Stephen Morgan, representing the developer, also pointed to the £422,000 proposed contribution to transport, but Cllr House said he viewed this as modest.

Quizzed if the council rejected the site because it did not fit with its

wider approach to infrastructure, Cllr House said that was not the grounds for objection and that the key issue was preserving the local gap.