Eastleigh council has approved controversial plans to build a new town on a 253ha (625 acre) site in Hampshire.
Earlier this week councillors backed the first deposit draft of a plan to build a residential scheme catering for 10,000 people. The town, to be called Allington, will provide 3,000 houses with an option to build a further 1,000. The scheme will also comprise 20,000 sq m (215,285 sq ft) of offices, 20 ha (49 acres) dedicated to other employment uses; educational facilities as well as opportunities for leisure and retail development.
The scheme will help Eastleigh council meet Hampshire county council’s structure plan requirement that it provides up to 4,000 new homes in its district.
However, there is concern that the DETR, which favours development on brownfield rather than greenfield sites, will block the proposals. The development will also require a one-mile link road across the environmentally sensitive Itchen Valley. The Environment Agency has told the council it objects in principle to this link road.
If plans are approved by the DETR, work is expected to begin in 2004.
EGi News 08/12/00
