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Search the Public Notice PortalFresh environmental concerns have prompted renewed calls to scrap a major development proposal in Hampshire.
The Dever Society has urged the landowner to drop long-standing plans for a large-scale development at Micheldever Station, following newly released advice from the Environment Agency highlighting major problems with water supply and sewage infrastructure.
Mr Magnier, an Irish racehorse breeder who purchased the Sutton Scotney Estate in 2017, has promoted a scheme for 15,000 to 20,000 homes as part of the government’s new towns programme.
Tessa Robertson, chair of the Dever Society, said: "The Environment Agency’s advice makes the central issue impossible to ignore: before you can build a new town, you need somewhere for its water to come from – and somewhere safe for its sewage to go.
"At Micheldever, neither problem has been solved.
"The developers may have accepted that the 15,000–20,000-home proposal is dead in the water, but their previous 6,000-home proposal still appears to be on the table.
"Yet even that would be 31 per cent more than Southern Water’s current plans.
"We urge John Magnier and his developer to accept that Micheldever is simply the wrong location for a large new town."
Environment Agency advice obtained by the society under the Environmental Information Regulations says a 15,000-home development would raise Southern Water’s planned housing growth from about 12 per cent to 58 per cent by 2040.
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The agency said the developer’s two major water schemes—the Hampshire water-recycling scheme and Thames-to-Southern transfer—are already earmarked for other needs and will not be operational until 2034 and 2040 respectively, at the earliest.
The Environment Agency said: "Southern Water haven’t accommodated development of this scale in their WRMP. They have forecast growth for the Hants Winchester Zone to be an additional 1,420 properties by 2029/30, and an additional 4,010 properties by 2039/40."
It warned that up to 20,000 homes would need major sewage investment to upgrade existing treatment works or build a new facility.
The society has opposed the new town plans since 1990, citing repeated rejections on planning and environmental grounds by local authorities and, most recently, by central government.
In March, the Government rejected Micheldever for its new towns programme, citing “significant water supply issues within this area which will greatly constrain large-scale housing development.”
Winchester City Council has also opposed plans for 3,000 homes at nearby Popham Airfield, warning that the proposal may rely on facilities at Micheldever Station.
A spokesperson from the Sutton Scotney Estate, who owns the land, has confirmed that there is nothing new to add at this stage.
The Environment Agency response, reference EIR2026/31664, dated 6 August is available from the Dever Society on request at admin@deversociety.org.
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