RESIDENTS and councillors have branded plans to slow down the number of houses being built in Basingstoke and Deane as "statistical wizardry", "a disaster" and "outrageous".

As previously reported, government calculations suggest as many as 17,820 new homes need to be built in the borough by the end of 2039.

Borough council documents reveal that the authority needs to build 7,703 houses more than it currently has in the pipeline.

It's part of the update process of a document called the local plan, which sets the rules surrounding the development of the borough and can be used by developers as a blueprint on where and how to build houses.

READ MORE: Plan to slow down house building unveiled by council

The borough council’s current target of 850 homes a year, which is based on a national formula set by the central government, would be cut to under 700 each year for five years from 2025 under a fresh ‘stepped trajectory’ approach put forward by the new administration.

This was discussed at the council’s economic, planning and housing committee meeting held on Thursday, September 7.

Borough councillors said the new approach must do more than just slow down house building.

Cllr Sam Carr branded the idea as a “bit of statistical wizardry” while former leader Cllr Ken Rhatigan said it “only delays the future”.

The view was shared by Cllr Jenny Vaux who called for the housing number to be reduced for the full plan period and not just the first five years.

She said: "This is simply pushing something we need to deal with today down the track to different councillors and dare I say a different administration.

"I urge members of this committee to do the responsible thing, remind the cabinet they respond to the full council to reduce the housing number for the full period of the plan."

The view was not shared by everyone in attendance, with Cllr Alex Lee supporting the new idea.

He said the new plan is "the first step in considering housing numbers and shows a proactive approach to addressing concerns".

SEE ALSO: Councillors say no to plans that would see more than 17,000 houses built in Basingstoke and Deane

The cabinet member for strategic planning and infrastructure Cllr Andy Konieczko responded to the concerns raised.

He said: "We don't agree with the number that is coming out of the standard method but until the Government changes the rules we have to stick to the planning recommendations.

“The method we have proposed I believe is the only solution we have got.”

Councillors and members of the public also gave their views on the spatial strategy, which sets out where homes could be built.

Calls were made for land east of Basingstoke and Lodge Farm as well as Skates Lane in Tadley to be removed from the plan.

In the east of Basingstoke approximately 1,500 homes, education facilities and a neighbourhood centre are proposed.

This will include approximately 900 homes planned for land located to the northeast of Basingstoke directly to the east of the Chineham Shopping area, Lillymill Chine and the A33.

It would stretch from Redlands House and Redlands Lodge in the north down to Pyotts Hill/Bartons Lane in the South.

Members of the Old Basing and Lychpit Environment Campaign group and residents gathered outside the offices before the meeting, protesting to make their views clear.

Nick Harris, as a spokesperson for the group, said: "I see a terrible danger here, even if this was all delivered these sites when complete would utterly overwhelm the existing communities."

Cllr Androulla Johnstone spoke against Skates Lane in Tadley, which includes plans for nearly 300 homes.

READ ALSO: Column by co-leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

She said: "In keeping with the spirit of the new local plan I ask that Skates Lane not be included."

She said that if plans go ahead it would “bring an already struggling community to a standstill" and destroy the “last pieces of natural England”.

Cllr Diane Taylor said the policy is "outrageous" for Oakdown Farm, with plans currently proposing to make provision for the delivery of warehousing.

She said: "If we accept this policy we hand free victory to developers who are constrained by their own profit, not as we are by the wellbeing and design of the whole area."

Meetings with parish and town councils across the borough to listen to their views are due to take place later this year. A borough-wide consultation will get underway in January 2024 to give residents, businesses, organisations, landowners, developers and interested groups the opportunity to have their say on the draft local plan.

This will give time to review the draft plan in light of comments from the committee and to complete the detailed technical assessments that have to be carried out on the updated draft plan before it can be published.

The debate about the spatial strategy is expected to continue during the next meeting on Thursday, September 28.