COUNCILLORS have overwhelmingly voted in favour of granting Bewley Homes planning permission to build 65 homes on the site of the current Garden Style nursery off the A325 in Wrecclesham.

The application, for a mix of one to five-bedroom two-storey homes including 26 ‘affordable’ dwellings on the 12 acre greenfield site, was countered by 35 letters of objection prior to Tuesday’s meeting of Waverley Borough Council’s joint planning committee.

However, councillors agreed the benefits of the scheme providing much-needed housing in the borough outweighed the “minor” adverse impacts on the countryside and local infrastructure including the overloaded A325.

Objectors were represented at the meeting by Wrecclesham resident Robin Gilbert, who expressed fears the development would add to the traffic problems on the A325 soon to be exacerbated by the 3,000-plus home Bordon eco-town development.

He quoted the Farnham Design Statement which stressed that new developments with direct access to the A325 “should be discouraged”, and also paid reference to the resumption of activity at the Alton Road sandpit to the immediate north of the development site.

However, supporting the application, David Neame of Bewley Homes’ planning agents Neame Sutton Ltd said the scheme has evolved with input of the local community and Farnham Town Council, who raised no objection to its plans.

Mr Neame also stressed the site at Garden Style nursery is included in the emerging Farnham Neighbourhood Plan as a favourable location for development - a point acknowledged by councillors in voting in favour of the scheme.

Carole Cockburn, leader of Farnham Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan working group and councillor for The Bourne, said: “The town council judged this site against a demanding set of criteria, including its distance to local services such as shops and GPs, and the final decision was taken by our planning consultant to include it in the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.

“I take [Mr Gilbert’s] point - the A325 is not ideal, there is going to be this huge development at Bordon and there are going to be more cars as a result. But I just don’t feel we can turn this down on those grounds.

“Traffic is an inevitable part of development and it’s something I’m afraid we’re just going to have to put up with on this site.”

Councillors voted 18 in favour of planning officers’ recommendation to grant Bewley Homes planning permission for the development, with just one member abstaining from the vote and none objecting.

Members did however agree that details of fencing and landscaping on the boundary should be submitted to ensure they are acceptable and preserve the landscape and green appearance of the area.