Plans for a new 6,000-home Hampshire village have been given the seal of approval by councillors.

Buckland Development Limited (BDL) submitted an outlining planning application for the new community that was officially acknowledged and endorsed by Fareham Borough Council last night.

BDL’s chairman Mark Thistlethwayte said: “We are delighted to be submitting our outline planning application for Welborne, which represents years of hard work and effort from BDL and our extensive team of technical consultants.

“I view this is about more than just meeting housing targets – we want to create an attractive, sustainable garden community for the 21st century, with the facilities and infrastructure to serve future generations within Welborne and the wider area.”

The overall planning application will establish the general principle and type of the development proposed, with a decision due on the outline application in summer.

The project team has been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders including Fareham Borough Council, Solent LEP, Highways England and Hampshire County Council.

In the council meeting last night, Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, welcomed the application, which includes the remodelling of junction 10 of the M27 motorway.

He said: “Without doubt the Garden Village designation, the recent court case ordering the sale of land at Welborne and the planning application received today are a direct result of the assertive delivery strategy adopted by the council just a year ago.”

However, Cllr Woodward insisted the current uncertainty over the availability of the land at Welborne is key. He added: “The significant amount of land not currently within the control of Buckland Development Limited is considered necessary to enable the development to be delivered on a comprehensive basis, along with all necessary supporting infrastructure.

“Instead there was no meaningful progress until we adopted our delivery strategy to appoint a delivery partner and consider compulsory purchase (CPO) of all the land required.”

However, Mr Thistylewayte encouraged the council to abandon their CPO.

The current timescale expects the project to take around 20 years, with work on-site thought to be begin as early as the second half of 2018.