THE decision to block a housing development on Bohunt Park was made by the South Downs National Park Authority on the recommendation of its planning officers – even though it was backed by more than three-quarters of the public who responded to the application last year.

Outline planning permission was sought by Green Village Investments for 140 residential units, including 40 per cent affordable housing, custom-build plots, live-work units, a farm shop and cafe, a nature reserve area, suitable alternative natural green space, and sustainable drainage infrastructure on the Bohunt Park site, on Portsmouth Road.

The officers’ report stated some 577 third party representations had been received including 415 in support and 154 objections, with eight neither objecting to, nor supporting the application.

“Every attempt has been made to record the number of third party representations as accurately as possible”, the report read.

“Third party representations have been recorded as the number of individual contributors. Multiple representations from a single contributor have therefore only been counted as one representation and 591 letters were received.

“While all representations must be treated equally, it should be noted that of the total representations, 444 were from within Liphook, while the remaining 147 were from outside the village or did not provide an address or post-code. It can therefore be assumed that there is at least a 2:1 majority from within Liphook in favour of the scheme.”

The SDNPA recommended permission be refused for the following reasons:–

lThere was no exceptional circumstance or public interest to justify planning permission for a major development, which would harm the landscape and have other adverse effects on the environment and recreational opportunities in a previously undeveloped setting.

lThe proposed development was outside the existing settlement boundary, and had not been allocated in the SDNP Local Plan or a Neighbourhood Plan,

lThere was no evidence to foster the economic and social well being of the local communities or have any more beneficial impact on the local economy than any other housing site of the same size in Liphook.

A Green Village Investments spokesman said this week after the national park authority decision on July 9: “We are frankly baffled by the statement ‘no exceptional circumstance or public interest’.

“Bohunt Park will provide a new medical centre, new grounds for the local football club and allotments for the village, all of which have been asked for by the community, are urgently needed and cannot be provided for anywhere else in the village.

“These facilities are unquestionably in the public interest. We are acutely aware eight ‘boundary settlements’ lie just outside the national park. Liphook however is the exceptional case among these and all other settlements that border the national park.

“It has a mainline railway station, has no physical constrains to development expansion and no adjoining public open-access land within the national park.

“The landscape officer provides no landscape objection to the proposal and therefor the so-called ‘harm’ could only relate to the partial implementation of extant planning consents that were carried out to ensure that they did not lapse.

“It should be borne in mind these planning consents are all for community facilities and community benefit and that the community itself asked us to apply for these consents.

“GVI successfully petitioned to have two parcels of land designated as Sites of Nature Conservation Interest in order to ensure a protected status for those areas and to deliver our objective to care and enhance the local ecology.

“We do not agree the experimental qualities of the adjoining footpaths and wildlife will be ‘adversely affected’ by our proposals, indeed we maintain that the opposite will be the case.

“The statement by the case officer that the development would be ‘undermining and devaluing the status, intrinsic nature and concept of the national park’ is not supported by evidence and we do not agree.

“We consider our proposals are specifically designed and intended to foster and facilitate greater awareness.

“No evidence has been provided in the case officers report of the beneficial impacts from other housing sites of the same size in Liphook.

“Nearly 50 beneficial impacts were recorded on the SDNPA public database from local traders, particularly in the Station Road retail and commercial area.”

But Roger Miller from the SOS Bohunt Manor Community Action Group welcomed the SDNPA planning committe decision.

He said: “We are pleased the SDNPA planning committee accepted their officer’s recommendation that the application by GVI for a large development on the historic Bohunt Manor Estate be refused.

”The reasons for refusal complement the SOS Action Group’s own comments submitted to the SDNPA during the consultation period.

“Two years ago a public meeting was held in Liphook to review the planned development. As a result of the overwhelming public opinion that the development should not be permitted the action group was formed to co-ordinate a response to the detailed proposals during the consultation period.”

At the planning committee meeting the SOS Bohunt Action Group were given the opportunity to address the committee. They stated: “The SDNPA’s 2014 Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment categorically excluded the Bohunt Manor estate from development and that the proposal is contrary to the Parish Plan which was formulated after very thorough local consultation.”

SOS Bohunt Action Group has submitted detailed comments to the SDNPA objecting to the proposal, noting among other concerns, that the proposal is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, contrary to the provisions of the joint core strategy (JCS) including its green infrastructure study and contrary to the provisions of the UK government vision and circular 2010.

The group added: “The park is not to be used for unrestricted housing targets, land elsewhere in the parish has been earmarked for this purpose. The proposal is out-

outside the settlement policy boundary of Liphook set by East Hampshire District Council and the National Park areas within the parish were finalised at a public enquiry in 2006.

“It will remove beautiful scenic views at this northern gateway to the National Park where the general public already have access from Portsmouth Road into the park via two existing public footpaths.

“The destruction of productive arable land on this important estate is wholly unacceptable and many leading organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the South Downs Society have all objected to this proposal.

“The cumulative effect of these proposals and the additional effect on the local traffic infrastructure including the conservation area makes the application to develop this historic estate completely unacceptable.

“The Action Group is not against sensible development in our part of the National Park, a modest housing scheme for locally employed key workers would surely be welcomed by all.”

One of the medical

Mike Korab, Practice Manager at Liphook and Liss Surgery, also attended the SDNPA planning meeting.

He said: “I am speaking on behalf of both my surgery and Liphook Village Surgery. The doctors at both practices fully support the Bohunt Park development and the new Medical Centre.

“The growth in our patient list sizes, coupled with rising patient demand and particularly patient expectation is putting extreme pressure on our premises

“This coupled with the rising demands of compliance and regulations by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) we have effectively run out of space.

“There are no alternative sites available in the parish – although building is happening at pace. The EHDC plan is looking at around 900 homes in the future and how are these going to be served?

“The developer’s support towards a new surgery in the Medical Centre is most welcome in this exciting development. The practice has been granted (Vanguard Status) to develop new models of care under the NHS five year forward view.

“A new surgery will enable us expand and enhance the services we offer with a growing number of elderly patients. To recap the doctors at both practices support the development at Bohunt Park.”

Resident Alistair Halliday said: "This decision to turn down Bohunt Park on a matter of principle, not substance, is deeply disappointing. Having lived in the village for over 35 years, Bohunt Park seems to me to be the first development which has genuine benefits for the village - with cricket and football pitches, nature reserve, allotments and more, while being sympathetically planned. “Turning it down just on the principle that it is sited in a park which actually nobody can currently access, and the borders of which were only decided four years ago, is myopic, poorly advised and inexplicable. It would provide a great boost to Liphook businesses and it not clear why its detractors appear so anti business nor fail to consider the real interests of the Liphook residents.”