A HIGH Court judge has ruled that a 400-acre Hampshire estate must be sold so that a new 'garden village' development can go ahead.

Land needed for the new 6,000-home Welborne development, near Fareham is now on the open market, with a pricetag of £35m.

Buckland Developments, the main developers, had intended the buy the Dean Farm Estate, near Funtley, from the Berne family.

However, two members of the family did not want to sell.

Glyn Berne took his siblings, Christina Hall and Nigel Benge to court in order to buy out their share of the land.

Christina and Nigel refused.

The case went to the Chancery Division of the High Court where Murray Rosen QC ordered the land must be sold on the open market.

Commenting on the outcome, Councillor Sean Woodward, the leader of Fareham Borough council welcomed the judgement ruling and hailed it as a step forward for Welborne.

He said: “This is the right step forward for the principal landowners to finally sort themselves out, it has been a stalemate for the last few years as nothing has been done to move the development forward.

“This high court ruling shows that our delivery strategy has encouraged landowners to cooperate and meant that finally something is being done."

Mark Thistlethwayte, Principal of Buckland Development limited said: “BDL has noted the High Court’s ruling, confirming that Dean Farm will be sold on the open market to enable the Welborne development to go ahead.

“We have reconfirmed our offer to purchase Dean Farm, which will enable BDL to progress its comprehensive site development plans.”

Currently, 90 per cent of the land that has been reserved for Welborne is owned by two key stakeholders, Buckland Partners who own the Southwick Estate and BST Group who own the Dean Estate on behalf of the Benge family.

Housing Minister Garvin Barwell, highlighted the importance of the development saying: “Locally led Garden Towns and Villages like Welborne have enormous potential to deliver the homes that communities need.”

Construction for Welborne is expected to commence in 2019 after the selection of a contractor and delivery partner is made by the council.