RESIDENTS and councillors in Colden Common are celebrating after a planning appeal for 21 homes was rejected.

The plans for land at Church Lane by Bloombridge Development Partners could have seen 13 open market and eight affordable homes built, along with a community orchard and a major new public open space.

The developer also wanted to build a new combined footpath and a cycle way to link with the existing rights of way in the south of the village.

More than 30 objection letters from concerned residents were received after the plans were submitted to Winchester City Council, with around 13 supporting it.

Those objecting said that there was already sufficient housing agreed under the Winchester City Council Local Plan Part Two for the area, and when residents were consulted that the site was one of the least favourite.

The plans were originally rejected by Winchester City Council in June last year, and resulted in the developer appealing to the Planning Inspectorate.

However the appeal was refused and it is is one of the latest in a series of planning victories for Winchester City Council, after developers for major sites in Otterbourne and Pitt Vale on the outskirts of Winchester have withdrawn their appeals before it was heard by the planning inspectorate.

The planning inspector Richard Aston said that the plans would "conflict" with the development plan for the area.

In his decision he wrote: "Drawing my conclusions together, the benefits do not outweigh the significant weight I give to the harm and conflict with an up to date development plan in terms of its adopted housing strategy and the substantial harm to the character and appearance of the area that I have identified."

Chairman of Colden Common Parish Council, Richard Izard said: “I am so grateful to the work undertaken by the officers at Winchester City Council in terms of establishing an approved Local Plan which negated the need for this site and they also confirmed that this proposal was unacceptable in terms of impact on the landscaping and countryside(this is particularly relevant I would have thought in respect of the current proposals by Eastleigh Borough Council)

“This final refusal for Colden Common is a clear vindication of the community engagement undertaken by Commonview a group that consisted of Parish Councillors and village volunteers.”