Residents of Four Marks are fighting a battle against speculative housing development on three fronts.

At its offices in Bedford Road, Petersfield, on October 16 at 6pm, East Hampshire District Council’s planning committee will consider an outline application to build 65 houses on land behind 87 Lymington Bottom, and a reserved matters application for 60 houses at Mount Royal.

The planning system’s ‘tilted balance’ in favour of development applies in East Hampshire, as the district council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, and its officers have recommended approval of both applications.

Meanwhile more than 200 residents have objected to an outline application for 100 houses on land west of Millfield in Alton Lane. The consultation period on that application - reference 50216/002 - ended on September 17 and no date has yet been set for it to go before the committee.

Calling it a “high-density suburban estate” on farmland outside the village settlement boundary, objectors said it was out of scale and would send another 125 vehicles per day through three “already hazardous” junctions on to the A31 while setting a precedent for “settlement creep” that could transform Four Marks from a rural village into a town.

The proposed density of 9.1 houses per acre - or 16.2 per an average-sized football pitch - would be more than eight times higher than the prevailing pattern in the village and greater than many outer London suburbs.

Warning that the application would “irreparably damage the character and safety of Four Marks”, villagers issued a statement.

They said: “Four Marks is valued for its countryside setting, its dark skies and its sense of community. This proposal would destroy that by forcing a high-density suburban estate on to village farmland.

“The harm far outweighs any supposed benefits. We urge East Hampshire District Council to refuse application 50216/002 in its entirety.”

Dr Arthur Barlow, chair of Fight4FourMarks, said: “We have great support from concerned residents and will vigorously defend all the damaging housing sites proposed and applied for.

“The two applications under discussion this week will bring 125 houses on two sites opposite each other on Lymington Bottom, with up to 500 expected overall by the end of the year - or a 25 per cent increase in the size of the village.

“These will bring an increased risk of flooding in wet weather, more traffic queuing to join the A31, but no new services. The rural character of Lymington Bottom and the south of Four Marks will be decimated by all these very dense housing developments. We will cease to be a rural village.

“Fight4FourMarks always points out the massive cumulative effect of these developments on our already-creaking infrastructure in our deputations at planning committee meetings.

“As ever it will be local residents suffering the disruption and loss of rural character, and our job is to bring awareness of that to the committee.”