CAMPAIGNERS against plans for two new service stations on the M3 were out again on Friday last week.

Politicians, residents and members of SWAG - the South West Action Group, which campaigns for 'sustainable development' in the west and south west of Basingstoke - amassed on the Garlic Lane bridge over the M3 to protest.

A campaign has been running against separate proposals to build two new service stations off of the motorway - one at Hatch Warren and another at Black Dam.

The Moto Hospitality-led Black Dam proposal which includes a 100-room hotel, a drive-thru Costa Coffee, petrol station and a shop, is with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in the form of a planning application while the Hatch Warren proposal, being put together by Applegreen PLC has yet to reach the formal planning stage.

Campaigners chose to take up a spot on Garlic Lane on Friday as from their, facing north-east, can be seen the area the service station could occupy as the plan would be to build on the southbound side with a flyover from the northbound carriageway.

Councillor Terri Reid, deputy leader of the borough council, said: "It is just a crazy idea."

On Friday, Maria Miller MP said her Parliamentary Petition against the two proposals, which received in excess of 3,000 signatures and was submitted on Tuesday last week, has already had an effect, saying she has had already had a meeting with the relevant government minister.

Mrs Miller added: "The petition was to show the strength of feeling. I had a meeting with the minister responsible for motorways to explain the concerns.

"It has also been interesting that the Environment Agency and Highways England have woken up to this now and voiced concerns."

Read more on the background to the story here, here, here and here.

SWAG is holding a public meeting later this month on development and traffic concerns in the west and south west of Basingstoke.

On the agenda is likely to be the M3 service station proposal, The Island development site in Beggarwood, the Basingstoke Golf Club site, and traffic congestion and the A30 plans.

The meeting is due to be held on May 31 from 7pm to 9pm at Hatch Warren Community Centre, on Long Cross Lane.

Stafford Napier, member of SWAG, said: "We will have local councillors there, the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) to talk about healthcare provision, we're hoping to get someone from Linden Homes to talk about the Hounsome Fields site. We may even have someone from Applegreen coming.

"What we want is the right development, in the right place."

The meeting is open to all residents to attend.

For more information, go to facebook.com/BasingstokeSouthWestActionGroupSWAG.