A FULL-SCALE rebellion to protect Hampshire's green lungs could be in the offing as campaigners prepare to give the county's planners a controversial slap in the face.
Local council chiefs in Eastleigh are gearing up to officially snub their county council counterparts over the high-profile Allington town development.
In a groundbreaking move, the council may publish its ten-year planning blueprint without the normal seal of approval from the county's overseers of development.
When finally published, the borough's local plan could simply ignore the demand for a major development area (MDA) of up to 4,000 homes south of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak.
Producing the document without the MDA - and without the certificate of conformity - would be a major challenge to the county council, which has earmarked the 625-acre site for development in its overarching planning policy.
And it is a move that Eastleigh's council leader, Keith House, believes will draw the battle line between Hampshire planners and district authorities across the region.
Any local authority taking such a course of action would be faced with a high-stakes fight before a government inspector.
But Mr House says it is a battle Eastleigh is prepared to take on and added: "We are always prepared to be a rebel council if it is in the best interests of Eastleigh borough residents.
"We are not prepared to lie down in the face of the county council's bulldozers and we think other councils will follow our lead."
The Allington development has been at the centre of controversy since it was reluctantly included in the planning blueprint for the borough last year.
In an 11th hour turn-around the borough council announced it was to take legal advice to challenge the proposal.
Councillors also backed a move to lobby the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions to "urgently" scale down the development it requires the county council to provide.
Whatever action is taken, the local plan itself is now not expected to be published until late spring or early summer.
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