CONTROVERSIAL proposals for new housing in Whitchurch have been officially withdrawn – after it received more than 150 objections.

In November 2020, plans were lodged with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for homes on a patch of land at The Lawn, adjacent to Church Street and the River Test. The Lawn is the former home of Lord Denning, one of the most notable judges of the 20th century and one of Whitchurch’s most famous sons.

The application aimed to build nine houses, but during the consultation on the plans a raft of public objections were received by the council raising concerns about the potential impacts the development would have on the area.

READ MORE: Explainer: The proposed development at The Lawn, Whitchurch and what's been said

In their objections, residents raised issues over traffic, the impact on the conservation area and impacts on the environment.

Following recent discussions between the applicant and the borough council’s planning department, the housing plan has been officially withdrawn.

A document on the council’s website says: “Further to your recent correspondence I confirm that this application has now been treated as withdrawn.”

Plans have been considered for the area of the estate for some time, with Lord Denning having had plans drawn up in 1983 for housing to be built on the site - these were never acted on.

SEE ALSO: Basingstoke printer helps raise money for charity by selling sketch of Queen

The new plan would have seen a mix of two and three bedroom properties, and a four-bedroom house. Trees would have been planted to help screen the site from the surrounding area.

Lord Denning himself was born as Alfred Denning in Whitchurch in 1899, subsequently being called to the bar in 1923. He became a judge in 1944, and was appointed to the High Court, and subsequently sat in the Court of Appeals and as a House of Lords Law Lord, the predecessor to the judges who sit on the Supreme Court today.

He made a number of contributions to British law, including reforms of divorce law, and was the author of a report into a political espionage scandal known as the Profumo affair.

He died at the age of 100 in 1999.