CONTROVERSIAL plans for a 7,500-home mini-town in the Hampshire countryside have sparked a bitter election row.

Tory rulers in Fareham have hit back at criticism of the development, saying the borough needs to be protected from becoming a “mass of concrete”.

The row over proposals for up to 7,500 new homes north of Fareham has blown up in the run-up to local elections next month.

Fareham’s Liberal Democrats, who hold seven seats in the Conservative-run council, say a vital part of the countryside between the town and Wickham will be swallowed up by the scheme.

Peter Trott, secretary of Fareham Lib Dems, who is standing as a candidate in the Fareham North ward, said he believes the new town, which would be built by 2026, is a disaster for the area.

He said: “I don’t like it and I don’t want it. Quite simply, I think it’s too big.

“The counter-argument is that, if we don’t have this designated development area, then developers can come in and build in places like the gap between Fareham and Stubbington – they are saying we will lose green space.

“But there’s a socking great green space between Fareham and Wickham and that’s exactly the area they’re going to fill with houses. All those fields are going to be concreted over.”

But council leader Sean Woodward, who heads Fareham Borough Council’s 23-seat Conservative majority, says the new homes are necessary. He added: “We have over 2,000 people on a waiting list for housing in Fareham.

“It’s not true to say that the area north of Fareham is going to be concreted over.

“More than 40 per cent will be available as green space and it will be a lot more publicly accessible.

“The important thing is that all of the green gaps and strategic gaps between Fareham and all of its villages would be under threat without this. The whole of Fareham would become one mass of concrete from Portchester to Swanwick – that is the alternative.

“And unless you build something of a proper size you don’t generate the right infrastructure.

“You need around 6,000 homes to get the schools, community centre, the roads, medical facilities and everything else that’s needed.”

Polling booths in Fareham will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, May 3 and the count will take place at Ferneham Hall from 10pm.