Draft plans to build up to 100 homes in a village west of Alton have been handed to planners – just days after proposals for 79 nearby were rejected.

The race to build around Four Marks shows no sign of slowing down with two major applications for the south of the village coming and going before planning officers.

Cresland Ltd has submitted outline plans to build up to 100 homes on 6.53 hectares of grazing land between Blackberry Lane and Alton Lane.

It’s the latest in a string of outline applications for the site with the figure being well below the 195 suggested in their opening 2023 bid.

The applicants insist the plans are a result of “previous land promotion discussions” which were “held over a number of years” with the district council.

They call the village a “logical location for growth” and believe the site is a “sustainable location” with close access to a range of local services and facilities.

Both Cresland and Leevan Ltd both highlight the fact EHDC does not currently have a five-year shortfall of housing provision in the district – a key reason why Four Marks and Medstead has been swamped with housing applications over the last few years.

But the latter firm will have to think again as their outline bid for 79 homes – reduced from 95 – on a 4.7 hectare patch off Lymington Bottom has been strongly rejected.

Planners feel the proposed development would have a “divorced appearance from the village” and would result in a “substantial and unsympathetic change” in the appearance and intensity of the area.

The refusal notice states: “This development is entirely at odds with the character and appearance of the local area.

“The development would not contribute to local distinctiveness and would neither be appropriate nor sympathetic to its surroundings.”