Lib Dems campaign on development in southern parishes (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Lib Dems campaign on development in southern parishes

4:19pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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A CAMPAIGN has started to stop housing development spilling into the Winchester district from Fareham.

Local Liberal Democrats say it is vital to stop greenfield development in the southern parishes.

Liz Leffman, the prospective parliamentary candidate for Meon Valley, and city councillors Therese Evans and Angela Clear, are campaigning to protect countryside around Wickham and Knowle.

Fareham Borough Council is considering an eco-town of 7,000 on the site of the Strategic Development Area north of the town.

At the Local Development Framework committee meeting at Winchester City Council last Friday (March 12), Cllr Evans reiterated the importance of ensuring that no development spills over from Fareham into the Winchester area, and that the green fields around Knowle are kept that way.

"It is vital that the green fields bordering on Knowle and Wickham remain as countryside" said Therese Evans. "We local councillors are fighting hard to ensure that Wickham and Knowle do not become part of an urban sprawl.

Ms Leffman said: "Although this is intended to be a zero-carbon community, 7,000 houses will mean at least 7,000 more cars on the roads in the area.

"This proposed development will have a serious impact on the local infrastructure and road network, and will inevitably mean more traffic on the already congested A334 running through Wickham."

Ms Leffman is already campaigning to keep lorries off the A334 and the B2177. She recently took her campaign to Stop the Sprawl in the area round Durley and Curdridge to 10 Downing Street.