East Hampshire District Council’s (EHDC) planning committee will decide whether or not to give the green light to a large housing development in Horndean tonight.

Thakeham Homes Ltd wants permission to build 109 dwellings with associated access road, drainage, landscape and open space provision, between Catherington Lane and Five Heads Road.

According to official documents, the application is recommended for permission, but it does not guarantee approval as the proposal has to be closely examined.

Objecting to the application, Horndean Parish Council said: “Our major concerns are the impacts off of the development site. The vehicle trip generation data is over optimistic, traffic surveys are poor and misleading.

“The position that people would walk or cycle to major facilities shops, doctors, schools, railway stations that are so far away is not correct. The vehicle trips will in reality be much higher in all respects. We support the comments of HCC and ask this aspect to be completely reviewed. These are not sustainable transport proposals.

“Foul drainage is already an issue on Catherington Lane, we are not experts in sewerage systems but the phased “wait and see” approach proposed by Southern Water cannot be correct. We would also ask that the issue with the existing properties on Five Heads Road, the Chalk Hill Road development and the impact on the site (at the Five Heads Road end) should be investigated. “We do not see how Schools, Doctors Surgeries, Dentists Surgeries etc will cope with this development and with those on Chalk Hill Road and we have no visibility of any activity that will mitigate these concerns.”

The outcome of tonight’s decision will also apply to the lastest National Planning Policy Framework that was published in December 2024. East Hampshire’s mandatory housing figure rose from 574 to 1,142 and EHDC believes the target places enormous pressure on areas of the district outside the South Downs National Park.