COUNCILLORS have criticised a forecast for the number of new jobs to be created per year in the borough.

Members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s economic, planning and housing committee were asked to give their views on a proposal to build 850 new homes each year until 2029 in the borough’s Local Plan, last Thursday.

As previously reported by The Gazette, planning inspector Mike Fox, who will decide if the housing blueprint is adopted, raised various concerns about the borough’s draft Local Plan at an exploratory meeting in December.

He voiced concerns with the current state of the plan, crucially over the figure of homes earmarked to be built each year – 748. This figure had been set by the borough council and Mr Fox told the council that a figure of 850 a year would put them in a better position to get the blueprint approved. He also asked the borough council to include a figure of jobs it expects to be created each year.

As a result of Mr Fox’s comments, council officials have now recommended an annual housing figure of 853 homes per year, and a figure of between 450 and 600 for the number of jobs that are expected to be created.

However, several councillors spoke out against the revised housing total and jobs figure, telling the meeting that the figures were “selling the borough short” after statistics in the council report showed that an average of 600 jobs had been created each year between 2001 and 2011.

Councillor Paul Harvey, deputy leader of the borough’s Labour group, told the meeting that the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership have targeted the creation of 52,000 jobs across the M3 area between now and 2020, suggesting that could mean more than 600 new jobs created in the borough.

He said: “The LEP is driving a very different agenda. We have been a centre for multi-national corporations for many years. The Local Plan is saying one thing and the LEP is driving us in a different direction. If you want economic growth, that comes with consequences.”

South Ham Labour councillor Gary Watts added: “It (the council) is quite happy to take Government money, quite happy to have job growth but then says they don’t want new housing, but the two go hand-in-hand, I am afraid.”

Sherborne St John Conservative councillor John Leek said he was not happy with the plans as there would be a gap in infrastructure funding to cater for all the new homes.

He said: “What’s going to happen on the A339 from Basingstoke to Newbury? I haven’t read anything about a western bypass and until I have, I won’t be happy.”

Cllr Mark Ruffell, Cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said that the inspector had called the Local Plan “well written and user friendly”, adding: “The things you have said I have taken on board, and I will look at what each and every one of you has said, and it will guide me.”

Cllr Ruffell will now consider the comments of councillors and officers will be carrying out further work on the Local Plan to test how the figure of 850 homes a year affects a range of issues such as transport and the environment.

Officers will also report to the committee in March with proposals on which sites the extra homes would be allocated to before a period of public consultation is carried out in June.

The public examination of the draft Local Plan is set to take place in September.