CONCERNS have been raised over the “lack of jobs” being provided in Fordingbridge as the population looks set to grow due to future development in the town.

Councillor Mike Jackson, who is involved with the town’s neighbourhood plan, raised the concerns during an online meeting of Fordingbridge Town Council last week.

He said the “lack of jobs” being provided for the 2,500 to 3,000 people moving into new housing developments “concerns us greatly”.

He also asked if it was “too late” to investigate having an enterprise zone in Fordingbridge, adding: “We’ve got a lot of people coming and if there is no jobs for them they are going to be travelling across the Forest and building up their carbon footprint whereas there is possibly an opportunity to create an enterprise zone in Fordingbridge.”

Councillor Edward Heron, who is the deputy leader of New Forest District Council as well as a Hampshire County councillor, said that even with the houses that are planned for Fordingbridge there would only be a “very fractional increase in the number of people of working age population”, adding: “You are not necessarily going to have significantly more people requiring jobs that you have today over that period.

“Having said that there is always an opportunity to bring forward redevelopment of existing sites or new sites. I would think the prime opportunity to look at that is through the neighbourhood plan for which your area has just been designated.”

Cllr Heron said evidence would need to be obtained on this by the neighbourhood plan group.

A neighbourhood plan is designed to allow communities to shape the development of their local area.

New Forest District Council’s local plan setting out its planning strategy for the area up to 2036 with sites allocated for development across the district was supported by inspectors.

Councillor Jackson said: "There is going to be 1,274 houses coming to us. They are not all going to be retired people. There are going to be a lot of people wanting jobs.”

This number included the Augustus Park development. He said 2,000 jobs will be needed to support the new residents, which would have a “big impact” and there were no business parks that could be expanded.

Cllr Heron replied: “It is not the people moving to it, it is as we have an ageing population the existing working population declines.”

Cllr Jackson also called for the district council to look “collectively” at planning applications for housing coming forward.

District councillor Ann Bellows said the building would be over a 26 year period and would “not just come overnight” and the three companies would work together due to the sites’ close proximity.

Cllr Jackson added: “It will happen relatively quickly. Even if it doesn’t we should be planning for that and putting things into place.

“What I fear is the four developers will go their own way.”