ALMOST 100 new houses will be built in Beggarwood after plans were approved by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

As previously reported by The Gazette, Bellway Homes applied to the borough council for full planning permission to build 58 new homes, 43 new flats, a new community centre and a takeaway on land off Beggarwood Lane, in September.

However, following a public consultation with Beggarwood residents in which they opted for a new separate community centre on Beggarwood Park, the developer amended the application and removed the community centre and takeaway and reduced the number of homes to 96.

And councillors on the borough council’s development control committee voted to approve the application during a meeting last month.

Julian Jones, chair of Dummer Parish Council, raised concerns about the level of traffic from the development following the approval of the nearby Kennel Farm application and he said that the area had “the highest level of car usage for travelling to work” in the borough according to the 2011 census.

He said: “The cumulative effect will be increased due to the fact that below this at Longwood Copse Lane there will be 57 new houses being built, so there will be additional traffic from them and on the opposite side to the north west, there are 310 in Kennel Farm.”

Susie Hartas, who is the planning manager for Bellway Homes, said: “This site is in a sustainable location, forming part of the Beggarwood development.”

Moving a recommendation to approve the application, Popley East councillor David Potter said that most of the concerns that the committee had could be secured under a legal agreement and conditions.