WORK on a controversial housing development in Hampshire is set to start this summer.

The construction of the 98 homes on fields at Hatch Farm in West End is set to get underway in late summer 2017 with completion scheduled for the end of 2020, according to developer Radian Homes.

The new homes will have access from Barbe Baker Avenue and Barnsland and plans will also include parking spaces, new footpaths, a children’s play area and a pond.

The proposal was put forward by Radian Homes and was given the go-ahead in March 2016.

Cllr Dan Clarke, chair of Hedge, West End and Botley Local Area Committee, said: “This exciting new development of 98 homes at Hatch Farm, West End, that also includes new sustainable transport links and open spaces, will provide much needed housing for local people to have a home of their own, help to reduce our housing waiting list and also help in meeting the short fall in housing across the borough.”

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the plans sparked a heated debate among residents who voiced their fears about the impact that the new development could have on traffic and countryside.

They also expressed concerns about waiting times at GP surgeries and school place availability.

Bruce Tennent, councillor for West End North ward, said the majority of residents did not support the application.

He added: “With negatives, come positives and there are many. This site is a pilot in that it is owned by two local authorities and two housing associations, meaning that the speed of development can be controlled, the amount of affordable housing is easily negotiated and most importantly a large number of the homes will be available to let.”

Cllr Tennent said around 107,000 homes will need to be built during the next 20 years between Portsmouth and Southampton to meet housing need.