IT was a “Black Friday” for Alton as news filtered through last week that the Department for Communities and Local Government had refused to call in the controversial South Alton Plan.

The decision not to review the 529-home application, which was granted permission by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) planners on February 4 under extraordinary circumstances and, many would argue, a complete disregard for reasoned public concern, has shattered the idea of ‘localism’.

In a letter to East Hampshire District Council planners, Richard Watson, on behalf of the Secretary of State, said that the decision not to call in the South Alton Plan had been based on government policy, which had led him to conclude this case should be determined by the local planning authority.

He explained: “The Government is committed to giving more power to councils and communities to make their own decisions on planning issues, and believes planning decisions should be made at local level wherever possible.”

It is a decision that has shocked large sections of the local community, not least because, they say, it appears to give the green light to a decision by district council planners which has proven to be basically “flawed”.

In its response, EHDC confirmed that, having put a hold on the formal granting of its planning decision until the Department for Communities and Local Government had reached a decision, it would now go ahead and issue permission.

Its decision on the hybrid application was to grant outline permission for 529 new homes across two sites – on land at the former Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital site on Chawton Park Road and land at Borovere Farm, east of the Selborne Road, as submitted by the Government-owned Homes and Communities Agency and The Selborne Road Landowners.

And to grant full permission for highways work, including the destruction of historic Butts railway bridge, to be replaced with a wider, steel-girder structure, to encourage a speeding up of traffic flow through The Butts conservation area.

The deal will include a £5.3m donation toward a new sports centre for Alton, roadworks offset by money acquired via ransom strips surrounding Butts Bridge, and an agreement to cut the statutory 40 per cent affordable housing element of the scheme by half, leaving Alton with a shortfall of 100 much-needed, low-cost homes.

It is a decision that has sparked outrage, with more than 1,000 people adding their names to a ‘Love Alton’ online petition to ‘Save our Bridge’.

Already labelled “a public scandal” by Alton Society chairman Bob Booker, who also heads the Alton and District Residents’ Association, the chairman said that he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the Department for Communities and Local Government’s decision not to call in the South Alton Plan.

But he added: “It doesn’t alter the fact that the decision made by EHDC councillors on February 4 was flawed. When they considered the evidence they were told that Hampshire County Council required the demolition and rebuilding of Butts Bridge. The cost was so high that it required a reduction in the number of affordable homes that could be built. Despite being told by some of Alton’s district councillors that this was not the case, and having this confirmed afterward, it appears the decision was made on flawed information.

“It is yet another example that gives the impression that EHDC just does not care about those who cannot afford the full market price on this important gateway site to the town and above the existing Treloars estate.”

Chawton Parish Council also has grave concerns about the application, in particular the bridge, having failed to get it listed.

In expressing such disappointment, chairman Edward Stevenson said: “We remain against the South Alton development in that it fails to respect Alton’s neighbourhood plan, it is unattractive and unsustainable development at the entrance to Jane Austen’s town, and it includes the demolition of an historically interesting and visually attractive railway viaduct.”

In a letter to the Alton Herald, Mike Heelis, who led the Alton neighbourhood plan, urged EHDC to engage with the people of Alton, using the principles of localism to address some of the perceived anomalies in the application.

He wrote: “We supported EHDC on the development of the local plan (joint core strategy), and responded to the opportunity to develop a neighbourhood plan for Alton. This has been done with very little resource and massive engagement by the local community.

“EHDC should listen to what the people of Alton are saying through the legally submitted neighbourhood plan and correct the situation they now find themselves in, by increasing the affordable housing for South Alton from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. They should also review the need to build on high ground, given that the neighbourhood plan has identified sites to build 781 dwellings without the need to do this, thus exceeding the local plan’s requirement for a minimum of 700 houses.”

In a letter to district council chief executive Sandy Hopkins, Mr Branch has raised similar concerns, adding: “EHDC should be under no illusion but that this badly-conducted and poorly-considered planning application has done enormous long-term damage to the relationship between district and town. But there is now an opportunity for EHDC, together with landowners and developers, to act quickly with courage and determination to resolve this morally untenable situation, and regain Alton’s trust and respect.”