"BEFORE you know it, we would be back to the 1930s method of building ribbons of development down the motorway."
Those are the words of a campaign chairman attempting to save Popham Airfield from becoming Popham Garden Village.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has earmarked the airfield for 3,000 houses in its latest draft local plan.
John Chaplin is heading up Popham Airfield Matters to try and stop that from happening and to promote the airfield as an aviation hub.
Mr Chaplin, 70, recently invited the Chronicle to the airfield to hear more about the campaign and be a passenger in a flight from Popham, to Petersfield, up the M3 to Basingstoke and Newbury, back down the A34 to Micheldever and back to Popham, in a kit plane he built himself.
@hampshire_chronicle Flying over Hampshire, starting at Popham Airfield
♬ Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra & The Billy May & His Orchestra
READ MORE: Popham Airfield: Campaign launched to fight 3,000-home plans
The Guildford resident said that the group currently has around 1,000 members. They are calling for the site to be removed from the local plan and for different sites to be reviewed.
“There are about 29 airfields across the country under threat and they do close. When an airfield closes, you can't replace it, it just gets closed. We've been facing a reduced airfield network.
“The government is saying we need to keep this strategic network going for a variety of reasons, not least because the aviation sector is one of the major industrial sectors in this county. It's worth about £38bn. The question is how do we keep innovating? We have an electric plane here and it's little developments like that which keep feeding in. The network provides all sorts of things from incubating developments to encouraging people and providing a transport network.
“We've had a lot of government intervention over the years when aviation has not been fostered perhaps in the way it could have been. We don't make an aeroplane anymore. France does, we don't. It's very important and high paying.”
The local plan recently reached the end of its regulation 18 consultation, when residents and groups could submit comments. A total of 852 public comments on the housing allocation, and 610 of them were specifically about Popham Airfield.
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“It's not just pilots and aviation people, we go to fetes and people tell us they really like Popham. Normally villages don't like planes but here they do for good reason. This is an unusual airfield because it's built on downland. A lot are on flat fields and old RAF fields. This is quite unique. The public comments should be published after the election,” Mr Chaplin said.
The local plan's latest draft proposes three large developments close to the M3. These, along with Popham Airfield, a new hospital planned for Dummer and decades-long threats of development of a Micheldever Station New Town has Mr Chaplin concerned it could lead to a ribbon of development towards Winchester.
“If they went ahead with Popham and Micheldever Station, you would have a ribbon of development towards Winchester. Before you know it, we would be back to the 1930s method of building ribbons of development down the motorway which just doesn't seem to make sense.”
Mr Chaplin added that Popham Airfield is a community hub worth preserving.
“Most of us who are really into aviation see Popham as a part of an important network. We're severely lagging behind in the aviation industry which is sad because we used to be the world leaders in the field. Also, this is a community hub, a lot of events happen here from car shows to aviation rallies. We also have the cafe and a caravan site. Surely by promoting this more as a high-tech aviation hub would be better.
READ MORE: Micheldever new town developers on Popham Garden Village plans
“I built my plane in 2022 and it's based at the airfield. I've been to a lot of other airfields, but this has a really great sense of community with a lot of very interesting planes. It's also good value, you're not up there with the multi-millionaires, this place has a soul.
“The end goal is for the plan to recognise all the things it didn't, so the plan is sound. The plan should be promoting Popham so it can offer more of what it does now.”
Ann Bartaby, Popham Airfield Matters member and professional planner, submitted an objection to the council. It said: “As an operational airfield, Popham is an important economic asset for the borough and provides the communities of Basingstoke and Deane with a vibrant and well-located recreation and leisure facility.
“The references to flying activities in the Draft Local Plan Update are sparse and there is no mention of the many activities not directly related to a pilot’s day-to-day activity.
“In fact, references to flying seem to assume that only a small number of people might fly an aircraft from the site.
“The reality is very different. Popham has been identified as one of the top five general aviation airfields in the UK. It accommodated almost 18,500 aircraft movements last year. Additionally, the airfield hosts many, diverse, events which attract people from every type of aviation activity, from research and development, business, through to aviation recreation uses.
“Furthermore, Popham Airfield also hosts a very wide range of other sporting and leisure activities involving a large number of local residents. Meeting the needs of general aviation and other recreational uses, and providing flexibility of land use, is possible simply because of the very nature of an airfield such as Popham, which requires extensive areas of land. In addition, the airfield hosts a number of regionally important aviation related businesses which help to diversify Basingstoke and Deane’s economy and economic development potential.”
For more information about the campaign, visit pophamairfieldmatters.org.
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