PROPOSALS to build more than a hundred homes on countryside would set a precedent for erosion of the gap between communities, an expert has said.

Michal Nowak was speaking on the opening day of a public inquiry into Bewley Homes’ appealed plans to knock down three houses and build 106 homes on land east of Sovereign Drive, in Botley.

Called by the council as a witness Mr Nowak, an environmental assessor, told the hearing the proposed development, which was refused by council planners last summer, would be a “total change and an adverse landscape impact of major adverse significance”.

He said, although mitigation measures would mean the effect on the landscape would not change over time, the countryside would be “irretrievably lost” and its impact should not be readily dismissed.

He added: “It would physically diminish the gap between Hedge End and Botley the development of the appeal site would create a precedent for gradual erosion of the local gap which plays an important role in separating communities.

“Therefore it should be protected as a whole.”

Residents have previously raised fears that the development could put more pressure on infrastructure like traffic and schools in additional to the 1,400 homes planned for nearby Boorley Green.

Opening Eastleigh Borough Council’s case, Paul Stinchcombe QC said although it acknowledged there is a shortfall in its five year housing land supply it did not mean that council planning policies should be discounted and that this was not the solution.

He said key policies regarding building on countryside and in the gap between communities were not connected with housing supply.

He said the development would diminish the gap and “irreparably change” the character of the land from countryside to urban development.

“No amount of landscaping can mitigate that gap. Once lost it is lost forever,” he added.

Steven Morgan, representing developer Bewley Homes, said the scheme should be looked at in the context of the council’s need to deliver needed housing land.

He said the current local plan was out of date and the recent Eastleigh Local Plan, a blue print for future housing up to 2029, rejected by an inspector should be given very little weight.

Mr Morgan said they were not suggesting that anything goes in the absence of five year housing land supply, but they believed the impact in this case would be relatively modest and concerns were outweighed by the benefits.

He added that housing in the countryside gap was required as recent council decisions had shown.

Both sides have agreed financial contributions to mitigate the scheme including towards highways, primary and secondary school education, employment and emergency access.

The inquiry, held at Fleming Park and heard by planning inspector Keith Manning, is expected to last at least three days.