Barton Farm should not have 2,000 homes built on it, Winchester planners decided.

But the final say no longer rests with them after developers lodged an appeal with the national Planning Inspectorate.

Cala Homes wants to develop the greenfield site on the city’s northern edge and made its latest attempt on Monday (June 14).

Winchester City Council had already refused permission before and a partisan crowd of 100 came to see if it would again.

One change since the last time was that the authority had named Barton Farm as a potential housing site in its 20-year plan.

The draft version was voted through last year but rejected by Westminster, and now that the Government had changed, the plan might become irrelevant, members heard.

Planning officers advised that the scheme should be refused and almost all the public speakers agreed.

The parish councils in Headbourne Worthy, South Wonston, Kings Worthy and Littleton and Harestock all raised concerns.

District councillors Keith Wood and Eileen Berry did likewise, along with county members Jackie Porter and Phrynette Dickens.

Lib Dem city council leader Cllr Kelsie Learney said: “It would be a huge mistake to permit development on this site at this time.”

Tory MP for Winchester, Steve Brine, also came to the meeting at the United Church in Jewry Street.

“I do not think for one moment that this development would make Winchester a better place to live,” he said.

Maurice Charrett, speaking for the Winchester City Residents’ Association, said the scheme would damage the city’s character.

Former Tory district councillor Richard Worrall, speaking as a resident, then reminded the committee that nearly 600 people had written to object and 5,000 signed the Save Barton Farm Group petition.

In fact, the only speaker to urge planners to support the scheme was the developer’s own agent.

Committee members then took turns in lambasting the proposals, which also include new shops and a primary school.

They included Cllr Barry Lipscomb, who said: “I’m not convinced that building 2,000 homes on Barton Farm is going to solve the housing problems of this district.”

Yet his Tory colleague, Cllr Ian Tait, argued that Winchester’s affordable housing supply had been “strangled” and the scheme could provide 800 such homes.

“I’m not expecting other members to do this, but I don’t think this is such a bad thing for Winchester and I’ll support it,” he said.

His prediction was right as the committee rejected the scheme by eight votes to one.

But the matter is not over as Cala Homes has already appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, arguing that the council took too long to decide.

As a result, a public inquiry chaired by a Government inspector will settle the issue, which would have also happened if the scheme had been rejected earlier, and the developer challenged the ruling.

The inquiry is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 7.