Spotlight has consistently argued that the borough council is not allowing for enough housebuilding in the local plan currently in preparation. This view is based on is two reasons. The first is that the house numbers proposed do not even cover the amount which will be required to allow for the fact (amongst others) that, on average, we are all living longer and thus the local population is expanding. Secondly, central government has made it quite clear that the default should be for housebuilding to promote economic growth (not necessarily something with which Spotlight would agree) and thus it will expect housebuilding to be permitted if "sustainable" – whatever that may mean in this context. The point is, whether one agrees with central government diktat or not, when it comes to the point, if local provision for housing is deemed insufficient, government inspectors will overturn planning refusals made by Basingstoke and Deane and permit house-builders to develop – very often in totally unsuitable locations.

What seems to be of great importance for Chineham Ward residents is that – despite Basingstoke an Deane and Hampshire County Council jointly owning “Manydown”, a massive chunk of land just the other side of Roman Road (in the general direction of Oakley), is now not available for housing. This is odd because of the fact that this land was bought specifically for controlled housing development. In the view of most opposition councillors (if not all), the reason for non-release is to serve the political ambitions of the ruling Conservative party. This is a view held also by several leading Conservatives and the majority of members of the public who have attended the meetings where the issue of the location of future houses has been under discussion.

Several locations have been identified both on the fringes of urban Basingstoke and in some of the rural villages. Notable however is that the Chineham Ward has been virtually encircled with what will potentially be nearly 2000 houses. This has even been formally described as akin to establishing a major development area (MDA). In promoting these locations, regular reference is made to the facilities on offer in Chineham and thus seeking to justify such proposals. The idea of placing 400 houses on Cufaude Farm, which is down Cufaude Lane is perhaps one of the most bizarre of the proposals. Either way, virtually all the vehicular traffic generated would somewhere or other spew onto the already overburdened A33, and in a large number of those cases, having first added to the excessive burdens of the residential roads within Chineham and Taylor's Farm!

After three solid nights of debate (or rather, argument), the borough’s Planning and Infrastructure committee recently decided that the Cabinet should be asked to remove sites BAS121 and SOL002. This proposal was sent to Cabinet but with an accompanying report suggesting that the Cabinet should not change its intention to include the aforementioned sites.

Amazingly, this important Cabinet meeting scheduled for 27 September did not take place because just 60 minutes before the scheduled start, it was decided that not enough Cabinet members would be turning up! There are now many angry residents from all over the borough who will feel that the handling of this whole matter has – at best – been very poor, and at worst worthy of legal challenge.

If you are concerned about the future potential of swamping our area when perfectly satisfactory and planned alternatives exist elsewhere (purchased with £10m of public money), please keep an eye on the Spotlight website. Dates of important meetings will be listed – as a minimum – on the Spotlight Facebook page. If you wish to see the current proposals effectively challenged, it would be likely to prove beneficial if you were to attend council meetings where these issues are under debate. You are unlikely to be alone!.

We are eager that we should continue as a meaningful source of local information, as well as a recognised and respected voice of and for Chineham and Taylor’s Farm and thus help to develop further the identity and spirit of our community. We hope to be relevant, thought-provoking, outspoken, uninhibited, non-partisan and fair. Most importantly, we wish to encourage input from the local communities of both Chineham and Taylor’s Farm where you can air your views and "have your say" on any subject that you feel may be of local interest. Chineham and Taylor’s Farm are both growing communities. Let’s work together to create an environment of which everybody can be proud!

Editor: Martin Biermann

  You are visitor number: