A PARISH council is urging people to object to a section of a major housing development planned for Sir John Moore Barracks.
Littleton and Harestock Parish Council is opposing the building of 175 homes on the Northern Fields, which has been untouched for decades.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is proposing around 900 homes, after it's vacated by the Ministry of Defence in 2026.
The site has been allocated between 750 and 1,000 homes in Winchester City Council’s draft Local Plan, which is set to go out to public consultation for six weeks from Thursday, August 29.
Most of these homes are planned within the boundaries of the existing buildings and the parish council supports that. But they say the latest proposal involves building houses on land which is home to a host of plant, animal and insect life – some of which is rare or red-listed.
READ MORE: Sir John Moore Barracks Winchester: New masterplan to be launched
Parish council chairman Liz Winn said: “We are talking about the land to the north of the currently built-on area of the barracks. This is currently a candidate to become a Site Important for Nature Conservation (SINC) and we can’t understand the need to build here.
“We think that nature should be given a chance to thrive. The Northern Fields should not be built upon and fragmented. In line with Winchester City Council’s declaration of a nature emergency, they need to be conserved and enhanced to protect rare species and prevent a serious decline in the diversity of plant and animal life.
“The Ministry of Defence intends to reduce this important conservation site to a much smaller ringfenced area to the west of the proposed SINC. This is not a workable solution and ignores the need for species to move about and connect to the wider landscape they need in order to eat, breed and survive.”
The DIO recently announced new consultation events at Littleton Millennium Memorial Hall on September 4 from 2pm to 6pm; and at Weeke Community Centre on September 5 from 4pm to 8pm.
This is the third stage of public consultation following initial events last November and December, and a series of open workshops between December and May.
Feedback from the consultation events will be reviewed before a refined concept masterplan is presented to Winchester City Council's cabinet for formal consideration, before a final stage of public consultation prior to the submission of an outline planning application.
For further information on the development and to get involved, visit: sirjohnmoorewinchester.co.uk.
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