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  • "
    mellowdude wrote:
    ohec wrote:
    What a shame that people have to be so selfish and that is what it all boils down too,the not in my back yard or the thats where i walk my dog and so on, and these people are so ashamed of their own feelings they then try to conceal the fact by talking about boundaries or some other rubbish. The fact that these houses are desperately needed is neither here nor there as long as the protesters already have a nice house, the fact that no councillors turned up say's it all as long as you sit ON the fence you can't get into any trouble.
    I would guess that everywhere you go in Southampton or the surrounding areas there would be no area of green land that someone wouldn't object to building on.

    It must be hard for councils to meet our housing needs when most, if not all of their proposals are met with objection.

    I do understand why people object to new houses being built near them, but what else can be done to tackle this?

    I like how the protesters never suggest any alternative sites for the new houses, they just don't want them built near them.
    Yes its very difficult for councils if as in this case they want to build on the periphery they get slated by the nimby's, if they try to build in the countryside they get slated by the countryside alliance people. Whether we like it or not this country is seriously overpopulated so we must build thousands & thousands of houses all over the country, and with house prices becoming increasingly too expensive for many social housing is going to be in even greater demand as time goes by. So they can protest as much as they like it won't make one little bit of difference."
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Eastleigh residents protest over plans for 1,000 homes at beauty spot

Protesters at Stoneham Park campaign against the proposed development of more than 1,000 homes in the area.

Protesters at Stoneham Park campaign against the proposed development of more than 1,000 homes in the area.

First published in Eastleigh Daily Echo: Photograph of the Author by , Reporter

ANGRY residents have demonstrated at a beauty spot earmarked for more than 1,000 houses.

About 50 people went to Stoneham Park in Eastleigh to raise awareness that the greenfield land is under threat from the bulldozers.

The 61-acre site, near Chestnut Avenue, has appeared in Eastleigh Borough Council’s Draft Local Plan as a possible area to build 1,300 new homes.

Campaigners say it would lead to traffic chaos and destroy one of the last green gaps between Eastleigh and Southampton.

Protest organiser Pat Ford said she was happy with the turnout, but disappointed that more Eastleigh borough councillors did not turn up.

She said: “We asked all 44 councillors on the borough – five replied, 39 ignored us and none came.

“I think it’s disgusting.

“But it was a really good turnout.”

Eastleigh North’s Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Thomas, also the chairman of the council’s Eastleigh Local Area Committee, said: “Councillors have many commitments and in my case I did not actually receive an invitation.

However, in this case the local plan has got a long way to go and any representations would be more useful when made directly to the council.”

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The leader of the council’s Conservative group, Councillor Godfrey Olson, said that he had been unable to attend.

He said: “I had been to a similar event three or four weeks beforehand when Mrs Ford took me around.

“I am totally opposed to building on that land for so many reasons.

It is a lovely rural setting, it will destroy the park, it will create traffic and it takes away recreational space.”

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