THIRTY houses are set to be built in a meadow near Bishop's Waltham after city planners brought forward a contentious scheme.

Winchester City Council is "bending" its own rules in order to build discount housing off Clewers Lane, Waltham Chase, a planning summit heard on Thursday.

Civic chiefs received 23 objections from residents, who warned that new families were unlikely to be local and extra traffic could endanger pedestrians.

The greenfield site was earmarked for development as part of the council's Local Plan to build 250 homes in the area by 2031 but was brought forward by the decision to approve an early planning application.

Cllr Frank Pearson told the planning committee that "bending" council policy - which says sites should only be developed after the plan's adoption next year - would open the door to other property firms.

Half the approved units will be discounted but housing association Alder Communities required planning permission by April to do so.

Lindsey Aldington, housing consultant for the group, warned that refusal would waste a "one-off opportunity" for them to build cheaper homes.

She said: "If it fails today I've got no doubt that it will be back in front of you soon, and it will be somebody who isn't trying to provide affordable housing, who isn't going to use profits to plough back into more affordable housing. It will be something that's lost forever.

"If we wait ... it's people we're not helping who we could be helping now."

The cut-rate homes could save families around £60,000, said Cllr Ian Tait, portfolio holder for housing.

Objecting to the plans, Shedfield parish councillor David Ogden said: "Quite frankly, I'm appalled that this has come to this committee today.

"We've spent five years as a parish council identifying various locations and actually helping," he said. "This goes against it."

"The due process has not been played and it's unfair."