RESIDENTS are up in arms over a planning application that they believe will be “dangerous and ruin the entrance to Alton”.

The outline application, by Tanvale Holdings Ltd, is for the development of up to 17 acres of employment land for office, light industrial, general industrial and storage and distribution use, supported by green infrastructure.

The proposed single-point access, submitted for detailed approval, would be from a T-juntion off Montecchio Way, located approximately 85 yards north-west of the A31/Holybourne roundabout and 110 yards from the Montecchio Way/Mill Lane T-junction.

The application has drawn 30 letters of objection with concerns ranging from adverse impact on the landscape and breaching of the skyline, to fears over pollution, and that there are already empty units on the existing trading estate.

Objectors also raise concerns about increased traffic congestion leading to parking problems, road infrastructure that is, they feel, incapable of supporting the development, and an access point, described as “effectively a slip-road off the A31” and which objectors argue should not be off Montecchio Way but from the Waterbrook Park estate.

While welcoming the development of the site in principle, Alton Town Council has also raised concerns over the proposed access which, councillors believe, would lead to “an unacceptable increase in vehicular traffic using a sub-standard access junction onto what is already a congested area where existing traffic movement leads to back-up onto the A31 and Holybourne roundabout, resulting in undue interference with the safety and convenience of other highway users” and that it would have a knock-on effect, impacting on the flow of traffic in other areas of the town.

Alton Town Council has objected to the height of the proposed buildings which would breach the Alton skyline, which is one of the key requirements of the Alton Town Design Statement.

Furthermore, while not averse to the change of use for office, light industrial and storage/distribution, the town council is strongly opposed to general industrial use which councillors believe would have an adverse impact on noise and air quality.

Alton Town Council has also asked that more consideration be given to the treatment of foul water to prevent pollution of the River Wey, and of surface drainage, bearing in mind the history of flooding in the Holybourne area, and supporting Thames Water’s suggestion for a ‘Grampian-style’ condition.

Binsted Parish Council, in whose parish the site stands, supported by Holybourne Village Association, has fully endorsed the town council’s response.

When the application comes up for consideration before East Hampshire District Council’s planning committee on Monday (February 12), residents intend to challenge the accuracy of the applicant’s highways assessment and implore the committee to ask for a further independent assessment appointed by EHDC, not the applicant.

And they will be asking that members defer making a decision until the new assessment is done.