Developers have submitted a reserved matters application to build 110 homes in Oakley after winning an appeal against the council’s decision to reject the plan.

Miller Homes Ltd and Wates Developments Ltd are planning to build 110 dwellings at land to east of Station Road in Oakley.

The plan is to build 66 market-rate houses and 44 affordable houses.

The proposal was initially rejected by the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in 2020 as the council called it “an opportunistic land grab".

The plan had also received 318 letters of objection from residents.

Wates, alongside Bewley Homes, had initially started constructing a 48-house Canterbury Gardens on the adjacent land. This means, with the addition of new plans, the overall development will be triple in size from the initial proposals.

When the 110-home plan came up before the council, Cllr Diane Taylor, who represents Oakley & The Candovers, said how the development would put "the public, and especially children and young people, seriously at risk".

She told the meeting there was a "clear precedent" against the development, adding that the heritage of the village would be compromised, labelling the development "ruinous".

Her views were supported by Cllr Tim Parry, the chair of Oakley and Deane Parish Council.

He told the meeting that the development was a "fundamental breach of the Oakley and Deane Neighbourhood Plan", which was overwhelmingly supported by residents at a referendum in 2016.

And despite Holly Gardener, project manager of the development, outlining its benefits, including a commitment to sustainability, 4.5 hectares of "extensive green space", "much-needed new homes" and access for residents to an electric car hire scheme, councillors were unimpressed by the access and safety concerns.

However, the developers were able to win the appeal against the council’s decision.