COORS Brewers Ltd has withdrawn two key parts of an interdependent three-point plan, drawn up to facilitate the redevelopment of its Anstey Road sports ground for housing. East Hampshire District Council planning case officer Keith Oliver confirmed last week that the brewing giant had withdrawn a controversial outline application for 184 new homes on the 2.696-hectare site, as well as a multi-million pound plan to site a new football stadium at Anstey Park. He said Coors had accepted that there were a number of failings in both applications and would be meeting planning officers in the new year to enter into meaningful discussions, with a view to re-submission sometime in March. The discussions are expected to include issues surrounding density and highways. Mr Oliver confirmed that contrary to Coors expectation, EHDC planners did not consider the sports ground a town- centre site. He said that while semi-sustainable, the site sits well outside the designated town centre area and, while Coors was hoping to build at a density of 90 to the hectare, EHDC would not expect such a high concentration of development. Nor, said the planning officer, would it expect three-to four-storey buildings and blocks of flats, which would be out of character with the surrounding area. But, he admitted, if Coors was forced to build at a lower density on the Anstey Road site, it might well reflect in the kind of provision it would be able to offer in terms of replacement football facilities. It would be a condition of planning at Anstey Road for Coors to replace sports facilities currently located on its land, and this it aims to do by building a football stadium on Alton Town Council-owned land at Anstey Park and outdoor bowls facilities at Chawton Park Road. According to Mr Oliver, the third part of the Coors plan, for the bowls facility, had been passed by EHDC officers, under delegated powers. • Another condition of planning on the Coors sports ground is expected to be a commuted sum for the provision of an artificial turf pitch (ATP) to be built on land at Eggars School.
