Planning chiefs have given the go ahead a fourth house on a former pub site near Alton.

The Golden Pot pub site on the corner of New Oldiham Road and Froyle Road in Shalden had planning permission granted to convert the pub into a house with three more homes on the site in 2024.

The planning application reference EHDC-25-0170-FUL came before East Hampshire District Council’s planning committee because the application is for a fourth new house in the countryside, said the council officer.

The applicant Harlequin New Homes has already started work on the other approved buildings for the site. 

The council officer said the site of the fourth additional house, plot 5, had been left free to be used for shallow drainage but the soil is heavy clay and now inappropriate for that use. 

In order to build a fourth, two-storey,  four-bedroom house with an integral garage, bore holes will be used for onsite foul and surface water drainage so it can be developed.

The house is 13 metres wide and 12.5 metres deep and a maximum of 9 metres high with a cat slide roof. The traditional designed house would use building materials of brick and slate on the application form, but brick, cladding and tiled roof on the Design and Access Statement.

Members agreed that the site is on a dangerous junction but allowing one more house to be built on the site did not compare with the amount of traffic generated by the former public house.

The council officer said that Hampshire Highways had the junction on its radar.

The committee members voted unanimously to approve the application 11 in favour.