Manydown shock

After 30 days of public hearings earlier this year, inspector Alan Foster has issued a report which axes the Manydown scheme from the borough's Local Plan development blueprint. He also says the plan must now only govern development to 2011 instead of 2016.

Mr Foster said the infrastructure of the town would not stand up to what was being proposed at Manydown and he was not convinced by the arguments about the need for it.

Borough chiefs now face having to back down after they put forward a plan for the first phase of 1,800 homes to be built as part of a potential 8,000-home scheme on the Manydown farmland on the western edge of Basingstoke.

Although the inspector's report is not binding, it is normally expected that most recommendations in it will be agreed.

In a joint statement, borough council leader Councillor Paul Harvey and deputy leader Cllr Brian Gurden said: "The inspector has determined that the Local Plan should end in 2011, contrary to Government advice, which recommended 2016.

"It's frustrating because we have listened carefully to residents who wanted certainty on planning for the future of our borough.

"The council is already calling for a clear commitment from central Government for infrastructure investment to meet the needs of Basingstoke and Deane - both today and in the future."

Cllr Harvey added: "The inspector has taken an independent position and said a future council and a future local plan will have to consider Manydown - but for now it is out."

And Cllr Gurden said: "I think it will be up to a council in a future plan to decide how many houses might be put on Manydown to make a sustainable development."

But campaigners have accused the borough council and Hampshire County Council of bungling the entire scheme that they promoted on the 2,000 acres that the authorities bought at Manydown on a 999-year lease.

Stephen Reid, chairman of the Save Manydown Group, said: "The inspector has said the council has not thought this through properly - a plan so bad it did not stand up to scrutiny.

"From that point of view, it is vindication of our campaign.

"We said it was ill thought-out in terms of roads and sewerage. The supporting infrastructure was just not thought out."

However, Cllr Reid said the planning inspector's verdict only meant a battle had been won and not a war because the borough and the county were likely to bring back a plan for Manydown after 2011.

Ted Blackmore-Squires, secretary of the Save Manydown Group, said: "The work we have put in to this whole campaign has paid off.

"I think the lesson that the councillors need to learn is that they need to listen to the views of ordinary people before running off with ideas for big developments that are not sustainable."

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller said: "The whole thing is a shambles. It's a big worry when our council has not got to grips with the investment in services required for a development of this scale."

Cllr Phil Heath, who resigned his post on Hampshire County Council's Cabinet in October 2003 over his opposition to Manydown, claimed this was a victory for the Conservatives and local residents, as well as a vindication of his position.

Cllr Heath said: "I am delighted to be vindicated for all the times I have said Manydown is not needed and the plan should not have gone on beyond 2011."

The first phase of the Manydown scheme was expected to start between 2011 and 2016. However, the inspector recommended the plan should not map out any building work beyond 2011 because of uncertainties over housing needs in the South East after that date, and his concerns about Manydown.

Mr Foster's report was produced after a five-month public inquiry on a draft version of the plan. It has highlighted that Hampshire County Council's own development blueprint - the structure plan - ends in 2011 and there is uncertainty about how many homes will be recommended in its controversial replacement - the South East Plan - which will be finalised next year.

The report also commented on infrastructure problems surrounding Manydown, echoing concerns raised by the Save Manydown Group, including the probability of increased traffic.

Sewerage was another sensitive issue, as waste water would have to be pumped to the other side of town to treatment works in Chineham, while the River Loddon - into which the treated water is pumped - has a limited capacity.

In a summary of his report, Mr Foster said: "Such fundamental uncertainties seriously undermine the credibility of the proposal and I recommend it should be deleted from this current plan."

The report recommended that if Manydown features on a future local plan, all phases of development and the necessary infrastructure for those homes should be looked at as a whole.

In line with the borough council's wishes, all 230 sites being promoted by developers for inclusion in the Local Plan have been rejected. The inspector also agreed that 40 per cent of new housing provision across the borough should be affordable.

The borough council will consider the inspector's recommendations at a special sustainable communities overview committee meeting and in the Cabinet during January 2006, as well as in a full council meeting in Febuary.

A further six weeks of public consultation are planned after any amendments have been made, starting in February, and the council aims to adopt the final version of the Local Plan in July.

Do you have a view on this issue? Write to The Letters Editor, Gazette Newspapers, Gazette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or e-mail editor@basingstokegazette.co.uk

First published: Thursday, November 17, 2005