THE Ministry of Defence has denied that it is trying to Òjump the gunÓ with its housing plans for the RE Lines and St Lucia Lodge at a crunch planning appeal which will determine the future of the redundant sites.
At a day-long appeal on Thursday of last week, the MoD insisted that it was not trying to cheat the town out of key vital facilities but instead rid itself of the financial burden of the two sites.
But it admitted that it had never promised to go along with the district councilÕs lengthy procedures for deciding the fate of the site.
Two applications for housing developments in Bordon were refused by East Hampshire District CouncilÕs north planning committee against the advice of officers who feared that a refusal could not be justified.
The MoD wanted to secure permission in principle to redevelop the redundant RE Lines site into a small housing development of 47 homes, and convert the neighbouring St Lucia Lodge into 18 apartments.
The MoD appealed over the refusal, meaning that the final decision now rests with independent planning inspector Richard Merelie.
At last weekÕs appeal, senior planning officer Chris Murray told the inspector that the actions of the MoD had a great influence over the future development of Bordon and Whitehill.
ÒIt has a significant presence in the settlement and has a significant influence on its growth,Ó he explained.
ÒThe MoD clearly have an important role to play in the future of Bordon and Whitehill and there are a lot of important issues to consider.
ÒThe settlement is already seriously top-heavy with housing and in terms of facilities has very few Ð which is something which needs to be looked at and addressed.Ó
Mr Murray explained that councillors had decided to refuse both applications because the council had not adopted a development brief outlining the future redevelopment of the sites.
He said that officers were preparing a brief to support the allocations in the local plan, the development blueprint for the district, which is in the process of being updated.
The officer said that the proposed new allocations were for the two sites to be converted into offices, a hotel and educational use although the MoD was formally objecting to this.
ÒThe local position in terms of the local representatives is that the use they would wish to see for those sites is that which is proposed in the local plan,Ó he said.
ÒA draft brief has been prepared for the site although it was felt inappropriate to present it to this inquiry because it is a draft.Ó
Mr Murray also expressed concerns that, should the housing plans be approved without a development brief, a destructive domino effect could follow which would see other redundant MoD sites being used for housing.
ÒOur concern is that with taking an approach of allowing development without a brief will cause serious problems,Ó he said.
ÒIf you accept these applications for these sites it would follow that all other MoD land in the settlement could be disposed of in the same way and clearly that would not result in a proper planning approach for Bordon and Whitehill.Ó
During the inquiry, the district council accused the MoD of submitting the housing plans because it did not like the Ð less profitable Ð new allocations which had been proposed in the local plan.
But planning expert Paula Carney, representing the MoD, denied this and insisted that the motive behind the application was not sinister.
ÒBoth sites have been redundant for around five years and have suffered from instances of damage and arson and they are costing my clients a lot of money,Ó she said.
ÒWe have drawn the reasonable conclusion that development is appropriate here and there there is no need for the unnecessary sterilisation of these sites.Ó
She also said that the onus was not on the MoD, but the council, to produce development briefs and that the military was not being ÒunreasonableÓ in wanting to dispose of RE Lines or St Lucia Lodge before a brief or the revised local plan had been agreed.
ÒI cannot see how we could be criticised over any of this,Ó she said. ÒThe onus is not on us to produce a development brief and the policies are in place to deal with this application now. There is no need to wait for a brief to be produced.Ó
She pointed out that all of the issues dealt with in a brief could be dealt with by planning conditions and through a planning application and that it was not necessary to go along with the wishes of the council.
She said: ÒDefence Estate have never said that it will go along with the local plan process and not submit a planning application.Ó
Inspector Richard Merelie also heard representations from Whitehill Town Council about the housing plans and arguments about how it would do nothing to help the people of Bordon and Whitehill.
But the MoDÕs counsel, Steven Morgan, said that the town and district councilÕs dreams were unrealistic and that the future of RE Lines and St Lucia Lodge had to be looked at realistically.
He said: ÒA wish list of alternative uses is simply not good enough.Ó
Mr Morgan also added that planning policies gave Òno suggestionÓ that any redundant MoD land had to developed to provide new and Òbalanced facilitiesÓ for the town.
The inspector will now examine all of the evidence before publishing his decision later this year.