RESIDENTS fear new housing will cause an “inevitable” increase in traffic through Harnham, as pre-application plans for a major 600-house estate were presented to the public this week.

Development plans for the land south of Netherhampton Road, including 640 new homes, a primary school, a 10-hectare country park and a local centre, were first released in 2017, and on Tuesday house builders Bovis Homes held a community consultation for residents to learn more about the complex.

This also gave residents the opportunity to raise any concerns they had about the proposal.

READ: 'Shock and disappointment' as charity boxes stolen from businesses and cathedral >>>

While residents agreed and supported parts of the scheme, including a need for new housing and the attraction of a country park, traffic and a weak infrastructure were two main issues.

One Netherhampton Road resident who attended the consultation in St George’s Church said: “Personally I think it sounds a great idea, the site itself sounds fine, but during rush hour the traffic is just going to be ridiculous, especially when 400 plus kids are coming out of a school.

“It’s not a bad idea but you can’t just plonk something in the middle of a land and hope it works.”

And a resident from Montague Road added: “No one seems to be mentioning the horrendous queues that form on Wilton Road because that’s going to affect here as well.

"I feel sorry for all the people who live around here, I’ve known queues that stretch way past the infrastructure so how is housing going to avoid that getting worse?”

A resident of Richards Way said the scheme “sounds good on paper”, adding: “Things like a country park and preserving habitat sound great, but traffic problems are still inevitable, they need to have a solution for the traffic that will build through Harnham.”

According to the developers, the site will have two access points from Netherhampton Road, with one roundabout junction providing a traffic calming measure for the area.

Des Dunlop, a planning consultant for Bovis Homes, said the developers use pre-application consultations to engage with the community and find out how residents feel about the scheme.

He added: “We are taking all the views and feedback so we can look at what cons people have said.

“Traffic has been the main issue, there is far too much traffic, but we are taking responses and we’ll look to see how the scheme can address these issues.”

Following the feedback from residents at Tuesday’s consultation, a planning application will be submitted by summer 2019.

If permission is granted by Wiltshire Council, the next stage for developers will be creating the details of the scheme including layout, appearance and scale.

Mr Dunlop added: “If the scheme gets approved we would be given the outline consent for the master plan - 640 homes, a school, a local centre, the access - and then we would have to submit a detailed plan for up to 200 houses.

"That would be what the houses look like, what they’re made of, and following that approval we’d start on site.”