THE 'thorn in the side' of Whitehill Town Council made a swift return on Monday when a new planning application for land at the end of Mornington Road was discussed.

A private developer is seeking outline planning permission to build eight three-bedroom houses on the site where a previous and controversial application was turned down.

As previously reported by The Herald, an application by East Hampshire Housing Association for 13 homes was refused in March.

That application drew fierce opposition from neighbours and 29 letters of objection from local residents were sent to EHDC arguing that larger private homes would be more appropriate than smaller social housing.

However, at Monday's planning and amenities committee, town councillors were happy that its preference for the site seemed to be being followed, although they agreed that they have liked the homes to have been bigger.

Chairman of the committee Basil Smith said: "It is not really what we liked but I guess that we have to be thankful for small mercies."

Mr Smith described the plans as being "very compact" and said that he welcomed the provision of 18 car parking spaces.

Clerk Linda Tiley pointed out that because the application was only for outline permission it lacked great detail. However, she said that the new application seemed to be a lot better "than last time around".

Geraldine Wilson said that it was still the case in Bordon and Whitehill that residents were leaving the area in search of a bigger and more private house once they had the money to get away from the "back-to-back" development in the parish.

She said that this should be the reason why councillors should state they they would have preferred four-bedroom houses as opposed to three bedroom houses.

Faith Thomas also said that it would have been preferable if garages were provided instead of simple car parking spaces for residents.

Both of these points were accepted by the rest of the committee.

Town councillors will pass their comments to East Hampshire District Council which will decide whether to grant planning permission.