Outline planning permission has finally been granted for 35 houses in Four Marks after the developer promised to move and landscape the access road.

East Hampshire District Council’s planning committee had deferred a decision on the scheme for land at number 103 and behind numbers 97 to 105 Blackberry Lane when it met on May 29.

The original plan had included houses on a narrow strip of land entering the site, which pushed the access road too close to an existing property.

But a revised plan presented to the committee on August 14 saw these houses relocated to the south-east corner of the site, allowing the road to be shifted to the middle of the strip, with landscaping on both sides.

Steve Morrison, of Fight4FourMarks, spoke at the meeting. He said: “Fight4FourMarks again vehemently opposes this application as an unacceptable proposal loading more traffic on to two very difficult junctions at the ends of Blackberry Lane, before even reaching the congested A31 junctions.

“We were concerned at the May 29 planning committee meeting by the focus on access only because we stay concerned about traffic issues, visibility splays, safety and flooding.

“At the meeting we spoke about the issue of cumulative harm that approving all of the proposed speculative sites in Four Marks will have.

“In particular, local residents fear the flooding risk, since most of the speculative sites are linking up in a continuous line just north of Lymington Bottom in a well-documented river valley.

“We believe that collective harm resulting from this proposal and the others in the valley above Lymington Bottom, especially flood risk, should outweigh the tilted balance consideration.”

The ‘tilted balance’ rule in planning states that a development should be approved if it will not create ‘demonstrable harm’ and the planning authority - in this case East Hampshire District Council - cannot demonstrate that it has a five-year housing land supply. East Hampshire’s supply is currently 2.7 years.

Stressing the fear of cumulative harm, Mr Morrison told the committee: “If you have concerns, don’t just vote it through without considering them properly.”

Four Marks parish councillor Paul McAllister said: “Four Marks and south Medstead have 286 houses approved, 483 awaiting approval and about 500 more in preparation.

“This excessive number is beyond the infrastructure capability. There are no future infrastructure plans from East Hampshire District Council, Alton Town Council or the utilities.

“This development is not sustainable and the harm demonstrably outweighs the benefit.”

Applicant James Griffiths said: “We amended the plans significantly. Most notably, the site access road has been repositioned more centrally within the site frontage.

“This adjustment allows the landscaping on both sides of the access road, creating a more substantial buffer between the access and the neighbouring properties.

“The removal of dwellings originally proposed at the site entrance has further opened up the layout.”

When asking questions and debating the application, councillors largely praised the new access. There were concerns of cumulative harm by flooding, but ten members voted in favour of the plans and none against, with two abstentions.