Dear Editor,

I attended one of the recent information events about the Manydown development held at the Sycamore Hall, Winklebury. Although pleased with much of what I learned, there are still many unsettled details, even after all these years.

For instance, it is pleasing that Manydown will be ‘all electric’ but the degree of property insulation, future proofing for the installation of heat pumps and solar panels, provision of car charging points (especially for properties without off-road parking) and other preparations for new climate focussed regulations remains vague. It appears that many of these important decisions will be left to the building companies but surely any new development should guarantee that expensive modifications to your house won’t be immediately necessary.

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Details are also vague about the management of wastewater from over 3000 homes. Surely we should know what infrastructure South East Water will be building to guarantee local streams and rivers are never polluted, even during heavy rainfall.

At least some thought has been given to cycling and walking within Manydown, but, for an alternative to car use to be realistic, the route from Manydown that people will follow to Basingstoke town centre or the railway station needs considerable work. Since cycle paths are the responsibility of Hampshire and Basingstoke Councils will anything be done? Currently, the route to town through Winklebury is torturous, requires the constant crossing of busy roads and has paving slabs so uneven that a bicycle wheel can be trapped - accidents are perfectly foreseeable. Inevitably, motor traffic through the Worting railway arch will increase, especially before the secondary school is built.

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Regrettably, there is little information about the services to be provided on the estate. Although a primary school is promised for the first phase and a secondary school later, such a large estate needs medical and dental surgeries as well as grocery shops, cafes and other local services. Surely these should be planned from the start so that their buildings are attractive and accessible for it is by the provision of local services that a community develops and car use declines.

But above all we need information about the design of the properties and the density at which they will be built. If Manydown is to become the model development we’ve heard so much about for so long, the building firms will need careful oversight - architecture and planning will determine whether Manydown becomes a dormitory from which to escape as soon as possible or somewhere pleasant to settle for the long term.

Alan Gwyer,

Worting