CIVIC chiefs have rejected plans to transform an “eyesore” site that has stood empty for 15 years.

They blocked proposals to build 24 houses opposite the Chevron Business Park in Holbury - despite complaints that the former horse field had become a rubbish dump.

District councillors said the undeveloped parcel of land was an allocated employment site that could be used to create jobs.

A report to the planning committee claimed that the application, if approved, would be harmful to the economic well-being of the area.

It also criticised what it described as an “unduly harsh and intensive development” that included small gardens and areas dominated by cars.

Quoting the case put forward by the applicants, London & Regional Developments, the report added: “They point to the fact that the site has remained empty for many years, thereby illustrating a lack of interest in developing the site for employment purposes.”

But council officers claimed there was no evidence that the site had ever been marketed.

Development control manager David Groom said: “It’s very easy to hold on to a piece of land, not let anything happen to it and then ask for something else.

“That’s not a reason to allow a major departure from your own planning policies.”

The housing scheme was supported by former parish councillor Eddie Holtham, who took part in a public participation period at the start of the debate.

He told the committee: “The land has been vacant for many years. It’s an eyesore and a rubbish dump.”

Some of the councillors cited the need to provide extra housing in the Forest and pointed out that the application included ten affordable homes.

But the officers’ report listed all the organisations that had objected to the scheme.

Hampshire County Council criticised the design of the proposed development, saying a “tortuous S-bend” at the entrance could make it difficult for fire engines to access the site.

The district council’s environmental health team said neighbouring industrial sites would have an adverse impact on people living in the new homes.

Cllr David Harrison added: “There are nine reasons (in the report) for refusing the application. They are all valid and for that reason it must fail.”