COUNCILLORS have agreed to work on protecting the character of rural villages in Basingstoke when building more houses in the borough.

Cllr Simon Mahaffey introduced the motion during a council meeting held last week when he said he has never seen more developments in the borough than now.

He said: “Increasingly as I speak at council, I feel like great uncle Albert or grandad from Only Fools and Horses as I reminisce about how it was better when I was a youth.

“I do now still live in the same house that has been my home for the last 43 years and as such, I have seen a lot of change in this borough and a lot of developments."

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He continued: “I recall when I was a youth the main pathway that runs down the spine of Chineham was referred to as the road through the woods. I recall when Bramley had too many supermarkets, a village shop, a farm shop, a butcher, a post office, a garage, and a school. This is what we once called a rural community.”

He said the “picture has now changed” and shops have been “killed off” as he asked councillors to think about whether developments 'near' to the edge of Basingstoke are having an impact on the greenspaces of Basingstoke.

Although the motion was approved with 32 votes some councillors were left confused by the statement.

Cllr Colin Phillimore questioned which villages in the proposal are considered to be close to Basingstoke.

Cllr Gavin James shared similar views.

He added: “Near to Basingstoke could mean everything and anything and I have children who are bored of the TV and I say ‘why don’t you change it’ and they say they don’t know where the remote is, even though they are near the remote, so I don’t know what near means, so this motion does not start well.

"We can’t build around villages and we can’t build too much in the villages, but they must go somewhere.”

Other councillors gave their support to the motion.

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Cllr Paul Harvey added: The opportunity to expose the damage of the housing target really matters and it gives the chance to show how threatening it really is. It will strangle the life out of the villages that Cllr Mahaffey mentions.

“It is also about defending the character of Basingstoke and Deane.”

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