COUNCILLORS have voted down plans for 75 new homes in Overton, on land described as a ‘toxic waste dump’.

The development proposed by Bargate Homes would see homes, allotments and orchards built on the land adjacent to Pond Close.

Residents in the area made clear their objection, saying local democracy was being “cast aside” as the homes were not included in the local plan.

Council officers recommended the application be given approval, but members of the Development Control committee were unconvinced, and rejected the proposal.

At a meeting on Wednesday (February 10), many concerns were raised both by councillors and members of the public, particularly with regard to the access road to the proposed new estate, as well claims the land is contaminated, with one ward councillor describing it as a ‘toxic waste dump’.

Cllr Anne Phillips, chair of Overton Parish Council, told members that residents are “strongly opposed” to the application.

“We believe the adverse impacts on the landscape, biodiversity, road safety and democracy demonstrably outweigh the benefits,” she said.

She added that people in the area feel the “very important” Overton Neighbourhood Plan has been “cast aside”, when they thought the policies would be in place until 2029.

Claire Brady, a resident of Sheep Fair Lane - the only vehicle access road to the proposed new development - also expressed her objections on behalf of her neighbours in the recently-completed Seven Acres development, also built by Bargate Homes.

“Lack of a five year supply is not the be all and end all,” she said.

She described Sheep Fair Lane as is “an unlit, narrow, estate road”, the maintenance of which is currently contributed to by residents through a management company, as it is “unadopted” and so not maintained by the highways authority.

She added that there had been an “inaccurate picture of material issues given by the developer” regarding highway safety, traffic issues, level of consultation with Seven Acres residents and issues including capacity of local NHS and schools, parking and mobile data connectivity in the area.

Cllr Colin Phillimore (Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon) echoed the resident concerns, adding that “the land is contaminated”.

Referencing plans for an orchard and allotments, he added: “If the developers think growing veg is safe, it's putting people's health at risk”.

Cllr Ian Tilbury (Overton, Laverstoke and Steventon) went a step further, describing “uncontrolled dumping” and “a lake of orange liquid" on the site in the past.

He said: “Who in their right mind would consider building houses next to a toxic waste dump? But they want to build a children's play area, allotments and an orchard there.”

He said the application was “premature and unwelcome”, given that two sites included in the Overton Neighbourhood Plan are still awaiting consideration.

Speaking on behalf of Bargate Homes, Nicola Wright, marketing assistant, said the developer was “delighted at the positive response” to the Seven Acres development, and that it showed

“it can offer accommodation without losing the village feel”.

She assured councillors that the developer had spoken to both the local school and GP surgery, and that “they said they had capacity and also had plans for growth”.

In debate, Cllr Nick Robinson said: “All the objections are valid regarding local democracy being overridden. But unfortunately that's the situation we’re in at the minute. It's not unique to Overton, it's a situation all our villages are suffering from because we need to build somewhere in the region of 8,000 houses in the next ten years and there aren’t anywhere near enough brownfield sites to build

“It's the best of a load of bad options. In a lot of ways, this site is a reasonably good site.”

However, Cllr Chris Tomblin said: “I used to work for the company associated with some of the chemical dumping, although not when it happened, and I’d have to say you would not want to live anywhere near that.”

Cllr Paul Harvey added: “I also struggle with the idea that an unadopted road as access is not up to highways standard.”

Cllr McCormick raised concerns on different grounds, saying he felt that required environmental surveying of the ground should address the contamination issue.

“I think the conditions for contamination are adequate, but what really strikes me is this is a reasonably large development, given the size of Overton, and it looks as though there might be pressures on services,” he said.

Members voted to refuse outline permission, rejecting officers’ recommendation, with seven votes in agreement and three abstentions.