SAVE the Deer Park Action Group campaigners are celebrating the decision by Hart district planners to turn down a controversial application to change part of the deer park at Dunleys Hill, North Warnborough, from agricultural land to public and private open spaces.

Plans would also have included a 28-space car park and the construction of seven large residential properties.

Action group spokesman Hugh Sheppard said: “Hart’s decision has at last brought heritage, planning law and commonsense together on the deer park.“

It has been a bitter-sweet victory for the residents of Odiham and North Warnborough who, through the Save the Deer Park Action Group, have been campaigning since early in 2015 when landowner Richard Revell, of Dogmersfield, and his agent had first sought to persuade members of Odiham Parish Council to support a bid to build luxury homes within the conservation area that separates the two communities.

Led by Graham Plumbe and his late wife Rachel, the Save the Deer Park Action Group galvanised local opinion to the extent that more than 400 written objections were received when the final application was lodged with Hart District Council in February this year, raising fears over the impact of the proposed development plans on the deer park that has been there for 900 years.

They objected too on grounds that the housing would destroy the views over the rural buffer zone between Odiham and North Warnborough, over loss of green space, and adverse impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area - concerns that were in line with the local neighbourhood plan.

But Odiham Parish Council supported the application, feeling it would bring “wider community benefits, including improved public access, footpaths, cycleways, provision of open space for the community and added security from existing covenants”.

The application created such a rift among the combined communities that in March there was a call for a vote of no confidence in several members of Odiham Parish Council, with 60 per cent of people voting in an independent parish poll, held in May, to support the motion. While divisive, the outcome was “only advisory”, according to Mr Sheppard.

Speaking after the vote, Mr Sheppard said the result “might, just might, encourage some of our parish councillors to think a little more about the neighbourhood plan policies and what being a representative means. And if it doesn’t, parish elections beckon next year”.

In the event, the application by Surrey-based Octagon Developments Ltd was turned down by Hart planners on grounds that the proposal would have “a significantly urbanising effect on the character and setting of the countryside by virtue of its siting, scale and prominence in the landscape” and would cause “harm to the character and appearance and the significance of the heritage assets of Odiham conservation area as well as to the setting of the adjoining conserservation areas of the Basingstoke Canal and, to a much lesser degree, North Warnborough”.

Furthermore, planners felt that “the proposed public benefits would not override this identified harm”.

Nor does the proposed development make adequate provision for a mix of housing sizes and types, which is contrary to the Odiham and North Warnborough Neighbourhood Plan.

There were concerns too over lack of affordable housing provision, highway safety, adequate car parking, impact on and off-site public rights of way, and drainage, all of which would be contrary to local and national planning policy.

Commenting on this victory, Mr Sheppard, said: “Hart’s decision has at last brought heritage, planning law and commonsense together on the deer park. It has repaid the determination of parish residents, and we (Save the Deer Park Action Group) hope that Odiham Parish Council will be similarly appreciative.”

Speaking on behalf of Odiham Parish Council, chairman Jon Hale said: “As a consultee, Odiham Parish Council was asked by Hart District Council to specifically consider the public benefit of the landowners planning application to restore the deer park.

“The majority of the parish council found favour in the benefits that the scheme would bring, such as community land ownership, improved legal protection against wide-scale development, a cycle path and improved public access. However these benefits form one small part of a very complex application, which is a key reason that the planners at Hart have taken over eight months to consider the scheme.

“I imagine the landowners will now reflect on the narrative behind Hart’s refusal and decide if they wish to amend their plans or appeal the decision.”