WORK to build a controversial new town in Hampshire could be delayed by three years, a council leader has said.

Fareham Borough Council chiefs have agreed to move towards a compulsory purchase of land north of Fareham, where they want to build 6,000-home community, Welborne.

They say they took the action after not being prepared to wait any longer for planning applications to come forward from those promoting the site on behalf of landowners.

The move, if it is successful, could be such a drawn out process that Cllr Seán Woodward acknowledged instead of later this year, it would be early in 2019 before a brick will be laid.

However, he said he was confident the scheme was still deliverable by its planned 2036 end date.

He said taxpayers would not suffer as a result of the compulsory purchase order despite the tens of millions it is likely to cost.

A meeting heard how landowners holding 40 per cent are in dispute amongst themselves.

Christopher Smith, from joint promoter BST Warehouses Limited, which promotes this land on behalf of the Benge estate, said when questioned by Cllr Woodward that it could take a year to resolve the dispute.

Cllr Woodward says without that no legal agreements could be signed off on plans to deliver the necessary infrastructure, but the council was criticised for its actions by developers and councillors alike.

Mr Smith, speaking at the cabinet meeting, said he had not had responses from the council and claimed it was manipulating a delay to justify its actions.

He said this was the largest compulsory purchase order in 30 years aside from the Olympic Park and he believed legal costs could be much higher than estimated and would take much longer than the year suggested.

He said the action would “almost certainly fail” leading to substantial costs sought from the council, which could reach tens of millions.

Mark Thistlethwayte, chairman of Buckland Development, and landowner and promoter of more than 50 per cent of the site, said promoters were on target to deliver an application by March 31.

He said Buckland Development had spent £5 million on this site so far and it would be better to work with promoters rather than starting afresh to deliver the scheme quicker.

Cllr Woodward said the council would still be working with interested parties and hoped the purchase would not be necessary.

The council expects the compulsory purchase order to cost up to £2m in legal fees.

But Cllr Woodward said this and other fees including buying the land, which he said could cost tens of millions, would be recovered from its development partner, which would underwrite the cost.

He told the Echo these plans gave the council better powers to defend against developers’ appeals elsewhere.