CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 100 houses on flood-prone farmland have been approved.
Plans for the development south of Derritt Lane in Sopley, near Bransgore, were originally submitted more than two years ago.
The proposal went before the New Forest District Council planning committee a total of three times before it was approved, subject to conditions, on September 29.
Most recently, the council committee agreed in July that planning permission would be issued when the developers, Wyatt Homes, complete and submit a S106 agreement.
The deadline for completing this document, which details the developer’s obligations to contribute to the area, was extended by three months to September, and plans have now been approved.
The site is included in the council’s local plan as one that is considered suitable for development.
Both Sopley and Bransgore Parish Councils recommended the plans for refusal during a consultation in early 2022.
Both were concerned over flooding, which reportedly causes Derritt Lane to be impassable during periods of heavy rainfall.
Both parish councils also raised concerns over the lack of affordable housing at the site, listed at 30 units.
The application received 183 representations from residents, many expressing their objections to the plans.
Many critics were concerned over the potential for flooding in the area, too, as the area has seen several floods in recent years.
The officers' report in July 2023 addressed this concern, saying that the concern was ‘understandable’ but that ‘flooding and surface water drainage will be adequately dealt with’.
Residents objected to the loss of countryside, the threat to wildlife and the impact of the development on schools and health facilities in the area.
Now plans have been approved, construction must begin at the site within three years of approval being given.
A programme of archaeological work must also be submitted to the council, with advice from an archaeologist that an excavation would be a ‘reasonable response’ to meet this condition.
The archaeologist recommends ‘a community outreach project to investigate and assessment the potential archaeological remains in the areas known as the Dell.’
The developer says the scheme includes more than seven hectares of public open space, a large village green, play area and a tree-planting programme.
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