Residents in a village south of Butser Hill gathered for a public meeting to discuss a major housing development proposal.

Save Sunderton Fields group held a meeting at the Clanfield Scout Hut on March 22, to talk about a proposal by Barratt David Wilson Homes (BDW), to build 200 houses on land south of Chalton Lane. It attracted so many people that it was standing room only!

Organisers who live on Sunderton Lane, which would face directly opposite the new homes, have got a planning consultant who is assisting the community with their concerns.

At the meeting, the consultant said: “The council is going to be balancing benefits against the disciplinary rules, and in terms of delivering housing, its economic benefit.

“It is all these arguments that developers will put forward, but they equally can be answered. I think it's important if you stand together and try to work hard to deliver the objections that we want in the right way.”

Geoffrey Hotson, a former district councillor, said: “I've enjoyed living in Clanfield since I was 18-months-old and have very fond memories, I want them to continue and not just for myself.

“I’m very pleased that so many residents have turned up this evening, because we need to do as much to block the situation as we can.”

Traffic was a hot topic, and one resident said she was told by BDW representatives at the recent consultation, that they are thinking of blocking off the lane at the Chalton Lane end and will make people living in Sunderton Lane go into the lane from the development, she said she found this “quite shocking”.

A resident who lives in Swallow Court opposite Clanfield Junior School, commented that the traffic at school pick up and drop off times is already causing problems, and if there is no infrastructure to support the development then it will only get worse.

She added: “We've been told that unless there's a fatal accident, nothing will change.”

Echoing similar concerns, Mr Hotson added: “The doctor's surgery, by law there should be 3.7 doctors to every thousand people living in this land and I know we're nowhere near that. We'd like to get better than the one doctor who is part time in the surgery that we have in Clanfield.

“Schooling, if we've got another 200 or more children easily with the possible development that could happen here, where are they all going to be schooled?”

In addition to the Save Sunderton Fields group, a Change.org petition started by Ronald Smith, a volunteer at the village pond, has reached more than 900 signatures.

The planning consultant stated that the task now is building on the success of the petition and turning the signatures and comments into official objections.

District Councillor for Clanfield Chris Tonge added that objections should be very specific as expressing personal views and emotions are not as relevant to the council when considering planning application objections.

BDW is still preparing to send an official application to East Hampshire District Council.