CHANGE. That was the campaign slogan for the Labour Party in its landslide election victory last week.

After 14 years of the Conservatives millions of people voted for change. Yet there are many people in the Winchester area who hope that 'change' will not apply to the long-running battle over a new town at Micheldever Station. One of Labour's key national policies was house-building. As we report on the front page, the O'Flynn Group,  the developer of the estate around Micheldever Station, is hoping that it will finally trigger success for their plans for a huge new town, after 35 years.

The new chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves has pledged to loosen planning restrictions to boost development and with it the economy.

Martin Tod, leader of Winchester City Council, said Gordon Brown, as PM in 2007, made similar noises about new towns. It raised hopes for the-then landowner Zurich Eagle Star that never materialised. Campaigners and local politicians showed that a new town at Micheldever Station would be unsustainable. The Chronicle agrees. It would be disastrous.

But do not assume that the Chronicle is a dinosaur that views every field and every tree as sacred. Major development has to happen and Winchester is little different to any other large town in this country. The best location for any major house-building would be in an area such as between Kings Barton and Three Maids Hill.

Talking of Kings Barton, at the current rate of construction it will be decades before the 2,000-home estate is completed. The new Labour government should certainly look at ways of making developers build to meet housing need and not to control supply to maximise their own profits.