A PRIME housebuilding site put up for sale by supermarket giant Sainsbury's is unlikely to save Bishop’s Waltham countryside from development, a planning chief has said.

Many residents hoped the town’s housing plans might change after the retailer pulled out of a superstore on the brownfield Abbey Mill last week.

More than 120 houses are set to be built on green fields in the town under Winchester City Council's Local Plan, partly due to a lack of other land.

But Steve Opacic, the council's head of strategic planning, said a buyer would have to move very quickly for Abbey Mill to force a rethink.

"It's difficult to see how we could put in a policy for this site, out of the blue almost, at this stage of the Local Plan process," he said.

Hampshire Chronicle:

The Abbey Mill site (photo by Tony Kippenberger)

It means homes could be built on the 35,000 sq ft Abbey Mill on top of the 500 earmarked under Local Plan if it is bought by a property firm.

Commercial firms are also understood to be interested.

Mr Opacic added: "Our policies actually would try and retain it as an employment site, although in the past we have given permission for a housing and mixed employment site."

Outline planning permission was given in 2007 for a scheme on Abbey Mill including new offices and 70 homes.

Sainsbury's was due to build a £1.6 million GPs' surgery as part of its more recent plans, relieving pressure on doctors who have become increasingly busy in the face of a growing population.

Doctors at Bishop's Waltham Surgery met this week to discuss the future of the site, but nobody was available to respond to the Daily Echo's requests for comment.