CONTROVERSIAL plans to build homes on a greenfield site in Hampshire have been thrown out after a huge campaign by objectors.

The application included an 85-space car park that aimed to combat traffic problems outside two schools by encouraging parents and pupils to make part of their journey on foot.

But the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) has rejected the scheme on environmental grounds.

Members heard that an application by Barker-Mills Estates to redevelop a green “lung” between Ashurst and Totton had sparked 260 objections, plus a 721-name petition.

Barker-Mills submitted plans to build 11 homes on the site, plus a parking zone to serve nearby Foxhills infant and junior schools.

However, the application was opposed by an action group called Keep Ashurst and Colbury Green.

In May last year more than 70 placard-waving demonstrators turned out to show their support for the site in Knellers Lane, Ashurst.

They warned that the NPA would set a dangerous precedent if it allowed the land to disappear beneath bricks and mortar.

A report to the NPA’s planning committee said: “The proposed development would spread across three adjacent fields and would significantly encroach into the green gap between Ashurst and Totton.

“This important area acts as a buffer between the two.

"The excessive spread of the development, in particular the car park, would extend the urban edge and have a harmful impact on the countryside.”

The report also said that only six of the 11 new homes would be affordable properties.

Members of the committee include David Harrison, who is a councillor for Totton South.

Speaking after the meeting he said: “I have been lobbied both by supporters and objectors (of the scheme) for weeks and undertook a site visit to see the traffic problems.

“As a local councillor, wanting to do my best for the people I represent in Totton, I really wanted to support the application.

“There are massive community benefits to be had by improving access to the schools.

“However, in my role on the NPA, I also have to take into account the wider interests of the National Park.

“It is really important to protect the green spaces between settlements. Once they are lost, they are gone forever.

“Supporting the NPA’s agreed policies is important because once you make an exception developers wanting to build in other areas of the National Park will quote the decision you made.”

Cllr Harrison said he hoped that Barker-Mills would submit a revised scheme.

“A greater percentage of affordable housing would make easier for the NPA to treat the application as a true exception that wouldn’t create a precedent,” he said.

Staff at the two schools were unavailable for comment.