Hundreds of residents of Oakley have expressed their disappointment at plans to build more than 100 homes on greenfield land on the edge of the village.

The Station Road development is planned right next door to another 48-home development that is currently under construction.

More than 300 people have objected to the outline planning application on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's portal.

As previously reported, Park Farm, now known as Canterbury Gardens, received planning permission in 2018, and is currently under construction.

In November, The Gazette also reported how the developers of that site, Wates, had asked for the council's opinion on tripling the total size of the development, by adding 110 more homes on another 25 acres of land adjacent.

Since then, Wates has submitted an outline planning application for their proposals, which has not proved popular with neighbours.

The borough council have received 320 comments on the application, of which 318 were against the development and just one was in favour.

Among those against the development is both the parish council and Cllr Diane Taylor, mayor of Basingstoke and Deane and representative for the ward of Oakley and North Waltham.

Cllr Taylor objected to the proposal based on the safety of walkers and the historical importance of the area, previously telling the Gazette that it was a "cynical attempt by developers to exploit a temporary shortfall in housing land supply".

In her objection letter, the mayor said: "The residents of Oakley have seen development after development appear in their village – mainly without too much complaint.

"They also took on board immediately the desirability of compiling a neighbourhood plan in order to have influence, in view of their local knowledge, over the siting of 150 houses allocated in the current Local Plan.

An artists impression of the Park Farm/Canterbury Gardens development. Photo: Savills/Wates

"It is therefore understandable that, after many years of cooperation and engagement, the village now finds that, through no fault of its own, it is being targeted by developers in this way.

"The great concern now is that if Oakley is to remain a village, which it has managed to do so far despite such huge growth, it simply cannot take more housing, particularly in this sensitive area – on the side of the settlement that defines it as a village."

The Park Farm/Canterbury Gardens site was acknowledged as a place to be developed in the Oakley and Deane neighbourhood plan.

The current planning application is an outline application, which means it can only be determined based on the principle of development and access. If approved, further details will be provided in the form of a reserved matters application.

You can have your say on the proposals by searching 20/00004/OUT on the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council planning portal.