Huge housing development plans for Boorley Green go on show

How the development at Boorley Green will look How the development at Boorley Green will look

THIS is how a new 1,400-home estate will look in under two years – if controversial plans to bulldoze a Hampshire golf course are given the go-ahead.

Developers want to concrete over the greens and fairways at Botley Park Hotel and build nearly seven times as many homes as there are currently in the tiny neighbouring village of Boorley Green.

As well as the massive housing scheme, the proposals include a new primary school, community buildings, sports pitches, an energy centre and retail employment areas.

A mixture of two, three, four and five-bedroom terraced and detached houses and flats would be built on the huge site. An application could be submitted by the end of the month for the plans, which have gone on public view for the first time at an exhibition in Botley Park Hotel.

The consortium behind the scheme – Ashill Developments, Southern & Regional Developments and Macdonald Hotels – say they have worked hard to consult with the community as they shape their proposals. If the planning process goes as they hope, building work could begin in 18 months.

But many of the protesters who came to see the new vision remained fearful that the huge increase in housing would create traffic misery in the small country lanes surrounding the site and ruin their tranquil way of life.

A spokesman for the Botley Parish Action Group called the plans “unsound, ineffective and unjustified”.

The group has already called for the plans to be thrown out and are calling on residents to raise objections. Alan Benson, who lives on nearby Winchester Street, said: “It is going to destroy Boorley Green, totally and utterly.”

Botley golf course was one of the sites earmarked for development in Eastleigh Borough Council ’s draft local plan, which is out for consultation for another month and which must still be approved by an independent inspector.

Originally it had been promised that any development there would include a proposed Botley bypass to help alleviate traffic problems. But Hampshire County Council ruled out the scheme for the next 20 years and the dependency of the development on the bypass has been removed from the local plan.

Under the council’s planning blueprint, up to 1,000 homes would also be built at Woodhouse Lane, less than a mile from the Boorley Green site.

 

Comments(21)

ohec says...
11:12am Fri 14 Sep 12

I don't know what the definition of an affordable home is but it would be nice to see some well built houses at a realistic price, it would also be nice to have a little less talk and a bit more action and some innovative schemes to help first time buyers or is that too much to ask for.

SaintDon13 says...
11:19am Fri 14 Sep 12

a fairway to go yet, the members should,stop playing a round, drop their bunker mentality, club together, iron out the facts, see the wood for the trees, there are at least eighteen good reasons not to build on the green belt, oppose the plans.

hulla baloo says...
11:26am Fri 14 Sep 12

There may be 18 good reasons, but the 19 is the best reason.

Lone Ranger. says...
11:28am Fri 14 Sep 12

SaintDon13 wrote:
a fairway to go yet, the members should,stop playing a round, drop their bunker mentality, club together, iron out the facts, see the wood for the trees, there are at least eighteen good reasons not to build on the green belt, oppose the plans.
I suggest you go fairaway and have a good scratch and wipe that bogey before you eat your sandwedge and tee.
.
The trouble with you rough ones is your no bigger than pin-high and dont represent whats par for the course.
.

Georgem says...
11:37am Fri 14 Sep 12

Lone Ranger. wrote:
SaintDon13 wrote:
a fairway to go yet, the members should,stop playing a round, drop their bunker mentality, club together, iron out the facts, see the wood for the trees, there are at least eighteen good reasons not to build on the green belt, oppose the plans.
I suggest you go fairaway and have a good scratch and wipe that bogey before you eat your sandwedge and tee.
.
The trouble with you rough ones is your no bigger than pin-high and dont represent whats par for the course.
.
You've got those guys down to a tee.

Lone Ranger. says...
11:40am Fri 14 Sep 12

Georgem wrote:
Lone Ranger. wrote:
SaintDon13 wrote:
a fairway to go yet, the members should,stop playing a round, drop their bunker mentality, club together, iron out the facts, see the wood for the trees, there are at least eighteen good reasons not to build on the green belt, oppose the plans.
I suggest you go fairaway and have a good scratch and wipe that bogey before you eat your sandwedge and tee.
.
The trouble with you rough ones is your no bigger than pin-high and dont represent whats par for the course.
.
You've got those guys down to a tee.
Its the birdies im after

BillyTheKid says...
12:38pm Fri 14 Sep 12

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

There will come a point where the people will have to vote on whether they want more children or more countryside. For our current way of life to continue, there needs to be tough regulations on population expansion, and mobility between counties.

Take a walk, bus ride, drive, or cycle ride to Witts Hill. Turn left or right and tour the side roads. Rows and rows of houses, it seems like any housing estate. Until you realise there are large areas where there are no trees, bushes or hedges, just endless tarmac, brickwork, and parked cars to look at. It does look very barren and grim. I remember, when I first noticed this some years ago, thinking to myself that this is what most of Hampshire could look like in a hundred years or less.

We see lots of tranquil, beautiful artist's impressions of what new developments will look like, with houses and shops peeping through trees and shrubs, but the reality is never like that. Within a few years the shrubs have died off, the trees look sad and isolated, and all you are really aware of are buildings, and endless swathes of litter-strewn pavemented areas. Bitterne village is a prime example of this.

There are ways to protect and preserve our world, but it's not going to happen if the population continues to increase at its current rate. That is the fundamental problem : where to store more and more people.

Zeo says...
12:58pm Fri 14 Sep 12

This could help push the plans for reopening the line from Botley to Fareham as a double track (currently single) if demand goes up - so this is all good for the railway :) *touch wood*

bigfella777 says...
1:13pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Nimbys unite, pitchforks at the ready, its outrageous that the growing population should need somewhere to live.

Smartiepants says...
1:28pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Why can't old disused or boarded up accommodation be put to good use instead of this constant need to build on green field sites?

Georgem says...
1:50pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Billy's arguments are fantastic! There's even a hole in one of them! I say we putt it all behind us.

BillyTheKid says...
2:48pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Georgem wrote:
Billy's arguments are fantastic! There's even a hole in one of them! I say we putt it all behind us.
B+ Good.

The joke/pun is actually quite funny, working on several levels ! Quite unexpected. Well done ! George needs to maintain this improvement, and avoid distractions.

Huffter says...
2:51pm Fri 14 Sep 12

"There are ways to protect and preserve our world, but it's not going to happen if the population continues to increase at its current rate. That is the fundamental problem : where to store more and more people."
Spot on Billy - and as long as life expectancy keeps increasing it will be an ever increasing problem... perhaps we should have a cull every so often - there are a few people I could nominate!

Georgem says...
3:30pm Fri 14 Sep 12

The similarity between Billy's mock report card, and my actual report cards from school, is quite uncaddy! I give it a fore out of five.

Lone Ranger. says...
4:01pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Georgem wrote:
The similarity between Billy's mock report card, and my actual report cards from school, is quite uncaddy! I give it a fore out of five.
Sorry Georgem i am not attempting any more puns ........ as i have been quite put out by the resident nutters comments about me. I have quite clearly upset him.
.
It is a pity that he has had a personaltiy bypass and takes life too seriously.
.
So from now thats it ..... i'm off for chips, with my lamb shank at the club with my mate bandit
.

Georgem says...
4:44pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Lone Ranger. wrote:
Georgem wrote:
The similarity between Billy's mock report card, and my actual report cards from school, is quite uncaddy! I give it a fore out of five.
Sorry Georgem i am not attempting any more puns ........ as i have been quite put out by the resident nutters comments about me. I have quite clearly upset him.
.
It is a pity that he has had a personaltiy bypass and takes life too seriously.
.
So from now thats it ..... i'm off for chips, with my lamb shank at the club with my mate bandit
.
Chips? May I suggest wedges!

OSPREYSAINT says...
5:08pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Zeo wrote:
This could help push the plans for reopening the line from Botley to Fareham as a double track (currently single) if demand goes up - so this is all good for the railway :) *touch wood*
Nonsense, nobody is going use the train, It's too expensive and inconvenient, the motor car is the only way to travel.

OSPREYSAINT says...
7:41pm Fri 14 Sep 12

Georgem wrote:
The similarity between Billy's mock report card, and my actual report cards from school, is quite uncaddy! I give it a fore out of five.
I love a pun fest but this one seems to have gone out of bounds.

Ginger_cyclist says...
1:11am Sat 15 Sep 12

Well, these comments seem to have been knocked into a rough area, I hope no one flags my comment as I could be well under par on my puns.

stay local says...
2:09am Sat 15 Sep 12

I for one think the plans are great, historically there has been a shift of population for the country side to urban areas, any move to redress this is good. As for worries about the environment, The changes caused to the landscape by golf tremendous. The area can be easily viewed as a brown field site, and development here means other more natural areas are left undisturbed.

OSPREYSAINT says...
8:32pm Sat 15 Sep 12

BillyTheKid wrote:
Puns are for shy people who are incapable of full-length jokes or stories.
You have got me banged to rights there, I know loads of long winded jokes, but by the time I get to the punch line I always forget what it is. Perhaps you are not clever enough to think of any puns yourself so you use this defense mechanism to hide it.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree