OPPOSITION is continuing to a major housing and industrial scheme in Alresford.
Taylor Wimpey is seeking detailed planning permission for 302 houses and a new industrial estate on farmland off Sun Lane. There would be new access off the A31 bypass.
The scheme, originally for 320 houses, was granted outline permission by the city council in March 2020. It is one of the biggest single planning applications in the town’s 800-year history.
There have been more than 30 objections on the city council website to details including over traffic, parking, building materials and flooding.
David Wright, chairman of governors at Sun Hill Infant School, raised concerns about the proposed lack of parking near the school.
Street parking on Sun Lane will be stopped and the school understood 100 ‘park and stride’ spaces would be created but the detailed plans only have 20 near Nursey Road, sparking fears that parents will park on nearby roads such as Oak Hill.
Mr Wright has told the city council: “We hoped to make the park and stride attractive enough to encourage people away from Oak Hill.”
Ralph Pointer, of Nursery Road, wrote: “I believe the majority of concerns and objections to the development from the outset were related to the impact of traffic on residential roads. I see nothing in this plan to mitigate those concerns. To breach a by-pass (primarily to allow commercial traffic to access a commercial/industrial site) is going to prove a nightmare for the residential roads and junctions which feed off of Sun Lane.”
Richard Read, of Windermere Gardens, said a new access road should be built onto Bishop’s Sutton Road to ease pressure on Sun Lane.
Justin French-Brooks, of Tichborne, has complained about the building materials: “The application/developer is proposing that the entire development is roofed using Redland DuoPlain concrete tiles. These tiles pretend to be two individual tiles, but are unconvincing and clearly large single tiles. They are inappropriate for this development because concrete tiles have an urban aesthetic unsuited to a site that it is on the edge of a Georgian country town.”
Paul Dix, of Tichborne Down, is worried about how the development could worsen flooding: “This has been a very long standing feature of the bottom of Sun Lane. In response to the original plans, in 2017, Southern Water informed the Planning Officer that it was unable to meet the needs of the development and that the risks of flooding in and around the local area would be increased.
“Has the question of capacity for dealing with surface water and also sewage disposal now been fully resolved with Southern Water? If not, then planning must be refused.”
Jan Field, chairman of the Alresford Society, said the allotments on the eastern side of the development were in the wrong place. The town council is already negotiating for additional land from the Tichborne Estate, close to the existing allotments, off Spring Lane.
Clive Hancock, of Kiln Lane, Old Alresford, is concerned about the lack of green infrastructure: “In failing to incorporate renewable energy, this application places an unnecessary burden and negative impact on the existing community in reaching its goals for carbon neutrality.”
New Alresford Town Council says construction traffic must be kept off local roads and noise-reducing tarmac should be used. It also wants “more imaginative house designs which are sympathetic with the local architecture”.
The council shares concerns that the new estate will increase parking pressure on nearby residential roads.
It says it would like to see a number of different businesses in the employment area as opposed to one large warehouse/distributor, possibly to encourage local start-up businesses and employment.
The proposed name - Alresford Meadows - is an issue. “The history and land use indicate that ‘Alresford Meadows’ would be unsuitable description of the site.”
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