A £41MILLION project that will transform Hampshire villages has been backed by county bosses.

The landscape between Hedge End and Botley could change completely in the next few years and see hundreds of new homes, a new secondary school and a long-awaited bypass.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, members of the Botley Parish Action Group (BPAG) raised concerns about the impact the schemes would have on the rest of the parish and the surrounding areas and asked planning bosses to set up a “wider and thorough” traffic and housing strategy before moving the plans forward.

Now a £41.9m spending plan aimed at helping the delivery of the schemes has been supported by county councillors during a cabinet meeting held yesterday.

According to the proposed spending plan, the secondary school proposed for land west of Woodhouse Lane, Hedge End will cost £20m and will be fully funded by the government’s Education Skills and Funding Agency.

Meanwhile, the county council will invest £6m to fund the first phase of the Botley bypass and £15m to fund infrastructure and utility work to provide servicing to the new school and the 1,100 homes proposed for land west of Woodhouse Lane and land north of Winchester Street in Botley.

The site for the new homes is owned by Hampshire County Council but has been identified for future housing development in Eastleigh Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, councillor Roy Perry, said that as the landowner, the county council is committed to creating a sustainable community, offering high quality homes for local people, with access to good transport, a secondary school and community facilities.

The county and borough council are also working together to secure funding for the long-awaited bypass in Botley and have recently submitted a bid for £10 million aimed at delivering the scheme.

The planning application for the bypass was submitted in August 2017. Cllr Perry said: “Subject to receiving planning permission, it is likely that the next stages could be improvements to Woodhouse Lane, which could serve as an initial phase of the bypass and will cost in the region of £6m.”

Councillor Keith House, council leader at Eastleigh Borough Council, stressed the need for a secondary school and welcomed the decision made by the county council.