BATTLELINES are being drawn in a bid to stop more green fields in a Hampshire village being swallowed up by houses.

Villagers in Rownhams are angry after plans were announced to build 140 homes at Fields Farm, which was until recently owned by Barker-Mill Estates.

It follows a scheme to build 320 houses on a neighbouring piece of land.

A Government planning inspector is currently deciding whether that development at Parkers Farm should go ahead.

Developer Pigeon Investment Management Limited (PIML) is behind the latest application on 21 acres of farmland next to the junction of Rownhams Lane and Bakers Drove.

It is bounded by a site of importance for nature conservation to the south and east.

PIML’s scheme also includes a community orchard, a play area, new public footpaths and open space.

PIML claims that there are “many people” in the local area who want to get on to the housing ladder but can’t afford to buy their own home, and says that the proposed development would help them do it.

It also says that the scheme would help elderly people in Rownhams who want to downsize homes and remain in the village.

However, villager Tony Seaton said that where landowners had been given permission to build but hadn’t gone ahead with the homes, it was creating land supply problems.

Nursling and Rownhams Parish Council also has concerns.

Parish clerk Bill Ashdown said: “The parish council is concerned about the village losing its identity.

“These developments could produce gridlock on our roads and increase accidents and it would also put pressure on our schools and the community as a whole.”