THE future of an “eyesore” site in Ropley is due to come up before East Hampshire planners next week, with the majority of villagers seemingly pushing for acceptance.

The application for the site of The Chequers Inn, at the junction of Gascoigne Lane and the A31 Winchester Road, would see nine new two and three-bedroom homes built on the site following the demolition of the now derelict pub, which ceased trading in 2008.

Dogged by controversy, the building and its 30-space car park have been left to deteriorate, attracting squatters and mobile homes, as well as complaints over the overgrown state of the threequarters-of-an-acre site which is now surrounded by hoarding and prone to fly-posting.

Now, Mulberry Homes (Ropley) Ltd has submitted an application to build nine houses for the open market with access from Gascoigne Lane which, while not offering a low-cost social housing element, has been welcomed as providing the type of ‘affordable’, small size family homes currently lacking in the village.

Of the 34 public comments on East Hampshire District Council’s planning portal, 33 support the application, with most echoing the sentiment that the pub “looks an eyesore and needs pulling down”.

Reference is made too to the need for affordable housing in the village and welcoming the redevelopment of a site that will benefit from good transport links via the A31, and the promised improvements to deal with the flooding issue at the bottom of Gascoigne Lane – sentiments echoed by Ropley Parish Council.

The application will be discussed at Penns Place, Petersfield, at 6pm on Thursday, December 7.