CONTROVERSIAL plans for a more than £20million Whiteley development have been revealed, but have already sparked fear among residents.

The proposal for land to the north of the Forum Buildings in Solent Business Park would see the development built on green land just off the M27.

It would include a gym, hotel and restaurant, among other things on the land currently unused land.

Details in the planning application show the scheme’s hotel would be run by Travelodge, include 94 rooms and generate 20-30 full or part-time jobs.

Other aspects of the application include a day nursery, light industrial use and parking. According to a planning statement, submitted by American real estate firm CBRE on behalf of applicant CCP IV Solent Sarl, the scheme would “bring back into active use a key strategic, but underutilised site”, “establish a viable, sustainable and vibrant new mixed-use development which will secure the long-term future of the site” and “achieve a balance of uses that will create a high-quality, new employment-generating development”.

However, the scheme has already attracted more than a dozen objections. Among those to write to Winchester City Council planners was Emma Limburn, of Oak Coppice Road, Whiteley.

Mrs Limburn said: “Whiteley simply can not take any more traffic. We certainly do not need another hotel with two already a stone’s throw [away], I work in this industry and hotels in this area are very rarely full every night.

“The whole proposal has not been thought out with residents and shoppers in mind, it has only been thought as far as how much money can be made.”

Paul Foley, of Angelica Way, Whiteley, added: “Whiteley is overdeveloped, polluted by exhaust fumes, it has insufficient roads and [is] therefore gridlocked. We already have plenty of local hotels, empty industrial units, gyms and nurseries, this development offers nothing for the residents but more of the above.”

A decision on the application is due by July 8.