VILLAGERS near Winchester were furious after the city council gave the green light to a controversial plan to provide more affordable housing.

Residents of Twyford were upset after the city council on Monday (Dec 20)approved plans to build 40 homes in The Bourne and Northfields area.

Twyford Parish Council had opposed the plan since 2009, claiming The Bourne area was already too densely populated and the nearby B3335 road was dangerous for residents as it did not have a pedestrian crossing.

Waine (corr) Lawton, chair of the parish council, said: “We are disappointed that, with the considerable opposition and concerns of the local residents, greater credence has not been given to the new government policy of localism.

“We recognise development is needed in the area but we feel this development is too intense. We feel the area will be over dense.”

Dr Roy Williamson, from Glendell in Bourne Fields, said: “We do not feel we had a fair go at opposing the plans. It seems like the officers had made their minds up before even looking at any of our concerns.”

Parish Cllr Chris Corcoran, of Finches Lane, Twyford, said: “How can Winchester promote the blueprint exercise and say they are going to listen to local people? Here local people told them comprehensively what they want and they are being totally ignored.

“The road is one of the busiest B roads in Hampshire and it goes right through the village. What other village in Hampshire has that without a proper footpath?”

The council had postponed their decision from a meeting on December 9 for a site visit earlier on Monday morning to assess residents’ concerns.

During this period, Jonathan Humphrey, the applicant, made a further financial contribution to the council of just over £40,000 to provide funding for a pedestrian crossing for the road.

Councillors said the extra contribution and the site visit had addressed their concerns over the scheme before unanimously approving it.

Cllr Ian Tait said: “The traffic issues here, although not easy, were not as challenging as some of the other sites we have gone to.”

Cllr Robert Johnston said: “The building of a pedestrian crossing is up to the county council but we should approve this application subject to the strongest possible recommendation the extra contribution is used to put in a pedestrian crossing.”

Mr Humphrey, said: “We are delighted that the scheme was met with unanimous approval from the committee.”

“It’s been a lot of hard work and I believe in the long term this will provide much needed affordable housing in Twyford for years to come.”