WINCHERSTER City Council leader Stephen Godfrey has cautiously welcomed the proposed sale by Zurich Assurance of the large area of countryside it owns near Micheldever, which was announced this week.

As Eagle Star Insurance, the company promoted the development of a new town of up to 12,500 homes from the early 1990s on the 4,200-acre Sutton Scotney Estate at Micheldever.

The city council has consistently opposed such developments, which it considers unsustainable and unnecessary, and its approach has been supported through successive structure plans and local plans.

The city council successfully defended its local plan against a High Court challenge by Zurich in 2014.

Mr Godfrey said: “The city council is pleased that Zurich has finally abandoned its misguided proposals for a new settlement here but will watch developments closely. We do not want prospective purchasers of this land to think that large-scale development would be an acceptable solution.

“The planning inspectorate has examined our emerging local plan and confirmed our approach to housing needs and site allocations very recently, so any development not explicitly permitted by our local plan will be resisted most vigorously by the council.”