THE leader of the campaign against developing Winchester farmland is calling for a four-figure turnout at a march next month.

The Save Barton Farm Group is battling proposals for 2,000 homes which city council planners are poised to support on the land off Andover Road.

Gavin Blackman, the group chairman, has raised the stakes in the campaign to stop the land being developed.

He said it was vital that the people of Winchester supported the demonstration: “Numbers are key. If people don’t do anything between now and March 14, then make a decision to come and give us half-an-hour and walk down the High Street.

“We want to demonstrate the strength of feeling.

“Two hundred and 50 people would not be enough. We have always said we are not doing this because we have nothing else to do, we are doing it for the people of Winchester.

“A previous march got 500-plus. We think we can double that,” he said.

Barton Farm was earmarked in 2002 as a reserve site for a major development area by the county council, but has never been triggered.

The city council is poised to include the land for housing in its local development framework which is due to agree on March 25 and be finally adopted on April 22.

The city council must find room for more than 12,000 homes over the next two decades.

If the council does include Barton Farm in the LDF, Mr Blackman thinks it will be very difficult to then stop development.

He said: “The council says they will make sure other places are developed before Barton Farm. But once it is in there, developers can start putting planning applications in.”

The march will be on Saturday, March 14, from The Westgate, at 10am, down the High Street to the Guildhall.

A meeting to organise the campaign will be held on February 25 at Peter Symonds College.

The campaign is reactivating after a relatively quiet period when the threat from Cala Homes appeared to have receded.