MEMBERS of the Hollywater Society have criticised East Hampshire District Council, saying a "delay" in the release of consultation information will not give them sufficient time to respond to development in the area. Results of a public consultation - which asked residents to vote on their preferred amount of housing to be built in the area ahead of the withdrawal of the Army in 2012 - are being assessed by the council. The secretary of the society, Marilyn Metcalfe, told The Herald: "Earlier this month, we rang the district council and asked if we could come and see the replies they received from the public on the core strategy for Whitehill and Bordon. "We were told this would not be possible because they were being read and analysed. "They [the district council] say these plans are what everyone wants, but that's not the case. "At the public meeting in April, 90 per cent of the people there voted to have 2,000 houses built and yet we're being told that 5,000 houses is the ideal option and will bring new facilities to the town. "Especially now we've been shortlisted as an eco- town, the council is ploughing on with these plans, despite what residents are saying to object." The head of planning at the district council, Daryl Phillips, told the Herald: "No one is being denied any access to documents or letters. "We have consulted widely on eight topic papers associated with the issues and options that may affect the district as it looks to the future. "People were invited to comment, either online or by filling in a questionnaire and sending it to us. Other comments were made at public meetings. "We have received around 700 comments spread across the eight topic papers. There is a large amount of information that needs to be collated and entered onto our database and that will inevitably take a while to complete. "Mrs Metcalfe rang on June 11, requesting to see the replies to the issues-and-options questionnaire. "At that time we had only just started to enter the paper copies of the questionnaire onto the electronic system. "On June 11, therefore, it was not possible to provide anyone with a clear picture of the response to the questionnaire. "We did say, however, that she (Mrs Metcalfe) and everyone else would be able to see the results as soon as the collation process had been completed." But members of the residents' group are concerned that the window to respond to the plans is very small. "We feel like we're being kept in the dark and we'll be kept there until it's too late for us to have our say," added Mrs Metcalfe. It is hoped that all the results will be released two weeks after June 27.
