PROPOSALS to create large new housing developments usually cause a war of words.

But unusually in the case of the latest plans for 2,000 new homes in Fareham, the words are targeted as much against neighbouring borough of Eastleigh than closer to home.

Fareham council boss Cllr Sean Woodward has deflected some of the criticism likely to to be the result of his plans for new homes on top of 6,000 already agreed at nearby Wellborne, by jeering at what he describes as chaos in the housing market in Eastleigh.

There, Cllr Woodward gloats, Eastleigh Borough Council finds itself in a mess because it bottled it when it came to deciding if a proposed 6,000 housing project near Hedge End should go ahead. The rejection has left Eastleigh with too few homes in its Local Plan and the need to find more. Whether Cllr Woodward is correct is open to debate.  Eastleigh councillors were well within their rights to listen to local opposition to the plans and throw them out. But Eastleigh, like Fareham, needs new homes.

Has Cllr Woodward then stood strong and will be seen as far-sighted by future generations in Fareham? Or will his opposite number in Eastleigh been regarded as the man of vision when the history books are written?  The answer lies probably in who writes the book.