Plans for 2,000 homes on land near A30 Basingstoke and Hook

Hart District Council is considering plans for a huge “garden community” of up to 2,160 homes at Murrell Green, between Hook and Hartley Wintney, and has asked neighbouring Basingstoke and Deane to comment.

Lightwood has submitted outline application 26/01201/OUT for land south of the A30 London Road, east of Hook near Murrell Green Business Park.

Developer Lightwood wants outline permission for a phased mixed-use scheme led by housing that would create a new village.

Lightwood says its vision is "to create a beautiful, walkable and sustainable new village. A place where people wish to live, work, learn and play and which future generations will be proud to inherit. 

The land in Murrell Green (Image: Google Street View)

 "Murrell Green will provide an expansive and interlinked network of greenspaces from nature walks through to parkland and playing pitches to boost happiness and health.

"Murrell Green will use local and traditional materials and design whilst enjoying the most up-to-date standards for energy efficient living."

The scheme includes up to 2,160 homes, including affordable housing and C2 residential institutions, and would have three new junctions on the A30, another access from the B3016 Odiham Road, and walking and cycling links to nearby communities.

Plans also include a new local centre with workspace, shops and community facilities.

The plans include an all-through school for nursery, primary and secondary pupils, with room for nearly 2,000 children.

The masterplan includes drainage systems, sports pitches and a pavilion, wildlife areas and a Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANG) to ease pressure on protected habitats.

Murrell Green has been one of Hart’s preferred sites for a new settlement for nearly a decade.

Early Hart Local Plan drafts proposed around 1,800 homes at Murrell Green before the council explored a strategic settlement across the Murrell Green and Winchfield area.

Plans to build more than 2,000 homes in Murrell Green (Image: Hartley Wintney Parish Council)

The Planning Inspector told Hart to justify its new-settlement commitment, prompting a shift from a fixed Murrell Green allocation to a wider “area of search”.

Hook Action Against Over-Development says the bid is among Hart’s biggest ever and would be larger than Hartley Wintney and more than half the size of Hook’s existing housing stock.

Critics fear more traffic on the A30, pressure on GPs and schools, water and sewage problems, and the loss of countryside between Hook, Hartley Wintney, Winchfield and Murrell Green, while supporters say Hart needs sites for new homes to meet its housing targets and five-year land supply, and that the scheme would bring jobs, infrastructure and facilities.

In 2019, Hart received £150,000 through the Government's Garden Communities programme for the wider Winchfield and Murrell Green area, then envisaged as up to 5,000 homes by 2042.