PUTTING 2,000 homes on Barton Farm in Winchester has edged a step closer.

City council Cabinet members backed a strategy that would make it available if alternatives cannot be found.

The authority must identify where to build 12,000 properties across the district by 2026. Most will be in the southern parishes or on brownfield sites, but Barton Farm is needed to make up the numbers. The Save Barton Farm Group held a protest march earlier this month to call for it to be preserved. Around 600 people carried placards from the Westgate to the city’s guildhall where the council holds its meetings. The full council will decide whether to approve the plan on April 22.