Amid the finger pointing and impassioned pleas for the future of Windmill Hill fields, there was some sympathy for the Alton Neighbourhood Plan steering group and the hand they have been dealt.

Suggesting sites for 800 or more homes around Alton was never going to be popular – even if some were omitted from the current version – but the task is getting even harder with a change of government, its higher house building targets, and the pesky presence of the South Downs National Park in East Hampshire.

“Petersfield isn’t taking its share,” said one resident before the night’s biggest round of applause.

“We’ve an extremely difficult task to do,” said Cllr Graham Hill, before warning the audience about the impact of a deferral on the plan’s timeline and success.

“There is lots of talk this evening about the consultation but you will have ample opportunity during the regulation 14 period to really voice your views.”

One resident defended the steering group, insisting not one had a vested interest and all had “done their best” while Cllr Matthew Bayliss moaned about the division caused by the process.

He said: “I don’t want any housing on Windmill Hill, Neatham Down, in Holybourne, I just don’t want it.

“But what I also don’t like is this process. Alton versus the South Downs National Park, one side of Alton versus another – it’s quite divisive.

“We should work together because it’s difficult to determine the way forward right now because of how things are.”