CONTROVERSIAL plans to put more than 300 homes on a Hampshire greenfield site have been given the go-ahead.

The decision comes just five years after similar plans were thrown out by Fareham’s planning bosses amid fierce protests from local residents.

Despite that initial refusal being backed by a Government planning inspector, Fareham Borough Council has backed the new housing development on land off Peters Road, Locks Heath.

It says that the growing need for homes in the area, and particular affordable housing, meant it must allow previously undeveloped land to be built on.

Developers Bryant, Bovis and Barratt will jointly build 152 houses and 155 flats on the 20-acre site.

Of these, 122 units – 40 per cent – will be affordable housing, which will be split between social renting and intermediate housing.

The homes will range from one-bedroom flats to five-bedroom houses, but most will be either two-bedroom apartments or three-bedroom homes.

The developers say they will provide a total of 510 parking spaces, which means an average of 1.66 spaces per property.

During consultation with the public, residents feared what impact so many homes would have on the area’s infrastructure.

Many worried about the increased traffic problems, as well as issues with already limited school and doctor’s places.

Ann Markwick, 64, who lives in Peters Road, was one of those concerned residents. She told the Daily Echo: “This area is too congested as it is and it’s only going to get worse. It’s a shame to lose one of the last bits of greenery to look at.”

The council also received letters of objection, adding concerns about flooding risks, the proposed buildings being out of keeping with those in the neighbourhood and inadequate parking provisions.

The application has been split in two phases because of different planning permissions already existing on the site, part of which houses greenhouses from a former nursery.