Firsdown fury

9:52am Thursday 20th March 2008

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RESIDENTS of Firsdown fear their community will be swamped by a 2,500-home development which is in the pipeline.

Parish councillor Brian Edgeley said: "There are only 250 houses here, and they are talking about 2,500, without being specific as to where they might go.

"We don't know where they have in mind. There is one site at the western end of Firs Road which we imagine might represent 1,000 houses, but it's currently agricultural land.

In the future this country is going to have problems feeding its population, so to destroy agricultural land would be catastrophic.

Mr Edgeley was "staggered" there was such a short consultation period over a long-term strategy of such importance. "It's far too short for us to consult all our residents," he said.

A meeting of parish councillors last Thursday expressed strong opposition to large-scale development. Winterslow councillor, Bill Moss, was there. And he argued people who come to work in Porton will not necessarily want to live nearby. "The planners are picking on Firsdown because there will be 800 new jobs at Porton," he said.

"But some of the people who will be taking these jobs are very highly-paid scientists. They are not the sort of people who want to live on a Bishopdown Farm-style estate.

"Admittedly, there are ordinary jobs too - security personnel and so on. But probably only 200 of the 800 might want to live particularly locally. By building a load of houses in Firsdown we are in danger of building a dormitory town for commuters to Basingstoke and Bracknell."

A public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday at Pitton Village Hall will allow residents to question council officers.