AN INQUIRY into building 100 new homes in Eastleigh which was put on hold after too many people showed up is set to go ahead this week.

Residents were left disappointed after a public enquiry into new houses being built in Botley Road saw them crammed into a room and sitting on the floor of a hotel last month.

The enquiry was opened for the proposal of the major Eastleigh development and was adjourned because the meeting room was not big enough.

Now residents are set to have their say as the public enquiry goes ahead tomorrow from 10am in a bigger room at the Ageas Bowl.

The public enquiry comes after a planning application from Gladman Developments Ltd last year to build 100 dwellings on a plot in Botley Road.

Eastleigh Borough Council rejected the plans, which would include up to 35 per cent affordable housing, structural planting and landscaping, public open space and vehicle access, in September last year.

The site proposed for development is currently used by the Ageas Bowl during major events as an overflow car park and reasons for the planning rejection by the council included the fact it would cause an “intrusive and urbanising impact” on the landscape and “diminish” the strategic gap between Southampton, Hedge End, Bursledon and Netley.

Now Gladman is appealing the decision and a public enquiry.

The hotel room was previously booked by Eastleigh Borough Council and during the opening of the enquiry Paul Stinchcombe QC, representing the authority told Planning Inspector Jonathan Bore that it had been difficult to find a venue for a two-week enquiry.

To find out more about the enquiry, call Claire Campbell-Best on 023 80688117.