WINCHESTER civic chiefs have agreed a masterplan for The Dean in Alresford.

The city council and most residents agree that the best long-term future use would be for housing to replace the industrial and business use of much of the road.

Among the proposed uses would be a car park, especially if the public parking at the train station should be lost.

The masterplan, formally approved by Cllr Victoria Weston, portfolio holder for the Built Environment, establishes principles to guide future planning applications.

This is designed to ensure that the site is planned in a comprehensive way despite that fact that it is owned by a number of parties and will not as a result be subject to a single development of the whole area.

A series of meetings were held during September and October 2016 to which all the landowners and businesses in the area were invited, along with adjoining residents, representatives of Alresford Town Council, the chamber of commerce, and ward members.