PROPOSALS that would see warehouses built on countryside near Junction 5 of the M3 near Hook have taken another step forward as a planning application has now been submitted.

Obsidian Strategic has now lodged an outline planning application with Hart District Council for 105,000m2 of commercial logistics floorspace across five warehouses to be built on countryside near Junction 5 of the M3.

Outline planning applications must include sufficient detail for the local planning authority to evaluate the proposals including the scale and nature of the proposed development.

The plans would see the warehouses built on Lodge Farm located between Odiham and Hook.

Pre-application documents submitted to the council gained at least 71 objections.

READ MORE: Hart District Council responds on warehouse plans at Lodge Farm in Hook

Basingstoke Gazette: Obsidian Strategic has now submitted an outline planning application to Hart District Council  for

Mr Elliot from Hook previously commented: “Overall there will be a massive increase in traffic, mostly of heavy vehicles but also 1,000 employee vehicles daily.

“Large HGV are extremely loud and residents will hear them 24/7 with no relief. With potential to have refrigerated lorries overnight which are extremely noisy through the night. Effect on residents mental health and well being must be taken into account and not quickly brushed off.”

Ian Robertson, also from Hook, wrote: “The scoping application for the proposed transfer of land from working agricultural use to business use (warehousing) seems perverse in the light of national pressures on food security.

“I know that this plot represents a tiny piece of the jigsaw in terms of overall national food supply, but the principle of removing land agricultural capacity is an important one. After all, once it's gone it's gone. Warehouses may come and go but the agricultural use will not be recovered.”

As previously reported, campaigner David Turver also said it would be “devastating” if plans go ahead.

On his website called We Heart Hart he states he is objecting to the proposals for several reasons including the groundwater flood risk, the ecological damage and the effect on the surrounding roads.

He previously said at “least three-quarters of the site would be at risk of groundwater flooding” and no amount of drainage systems “will alter that”.

The council's senior planner for place services has previously responded to the developer's idea with a 15-page report covering a number of points from drainage, flooding, archaeology, and the environment.

She said in her report: “The proposed development would comprise a major infrastructure project determined as having a likely significant effect on the environment.

“A response from the Local Lead Flooding Authority was received and raises important concerns and deficiencies.”

SEE ALSO: Proposals for 'significant new employment development' at Lodge Farm receives objections

The officer said that “foul waste would be pumped and discharged to a Thames Water manhole” to prevent flooding and a pump station would have to be built. As a result flooding and drainage information would have to “demonstrate that the foul water disposal solution would be feasible”.

Foul water is wastewater, which discharges into the drainage system.

She went on to say: “The closeness of the White Water river to the site, particularly to its southwest, would be an important consideration not only in flooding terms but also as a result of the biodiversity associated with the river environment, which would be likely impacted by the development proposed.”

Despite objections, Obsidian Strategic previously said it would make a “significant” improvement to the A287 “by enabling access and the free flow of traffic, as well as improved footways, pedestrian crossings, and cycle and pedestrian routes between Odiham and Hook”.

Philip Scott, director of planning at Obsidian Strategic, previously said: “There is significant and growing demand for logistics space in the area to meet the needs of local and regional business and to ensure that businesses, shops and the public have products in the right place and at the right time. Following Brexit and the pandemic it is now critical for the region, and for the country, to have greater self-sufficiency and more resilient supply chains."