A DECADE of housebuilding in the villages south of Butser has left local surgeries full and running 144 per cent over capacity.

The stark figures was revealed at a councillor’s surgery in Clanfield amid concerns about the impact of even more development around the village and Horndean.

The issues facing local GPs were laid bare in a letter by the NHS in response to plans by Thakeham Homes for 117 houses off Five Heads Road.

The overcapacity is startling – there are 10,731 too many patients at surgeries and GP practices serving the villages, with development unlikely to slow any time soon.

The figures were repeated during the surgery led by district councillors John Smart, Chris Tonge and James Hogan at the Clanfield Centre early this month.

Concerns about the emerging EHDC Local Plan, flooding and speeding around the villages were also raised during the well-attended meeting.

There was plenty of talk about possible development on the Clanfield Country Farm site next to South Lane and land between Drift Road and White Dirt Lane.

Cllr Smart, who sits on the council’s Local Plan Working Group, talked about the background to the document while planning committee member Cllr Hogan stressed the need to retain local gaps between villages.

He said: “I have previously campaigned on the need to keep the ‘local gaps’ and both these proposed areas (White Dirt Lane and Clanfield Country Farm) look to be in areas that many consider should remain gaps, which create a buffer between settlements.”

Many residents fear that development on the Clanfield Country Farm site will worsen flooding issues around South Lane while there was also a debate about the type and cost of affordable housing that could be provided.

Councillors also heard that speeding on Chalton Lane and East Meon Road needed to be tackled.

The trio hold a surgery at the Clanfield Centre on the first Tuesday of the month at 6.30pm, with villagers also being encouraged to attend a Local Plan consultation event at Merchistoun Hall from 3.30pm to 7.30pm this Tuesday (February 20).