VILLAGERS in Sheet are furious this week after a field next to the church was mysteriously bulldozed flat over the weekend.

There was outrage last year when developers who owned the field tried to have it included in East Hampshire District CouncilÕs local plan for housing.

Members of Sheet Church backed the move, hoping that the development behind St Mary Magdalen would include a new church hall.

The developers failed in their bid to have the land earmarked for housing.

But this week after the land was flattened by bulldozers, villagers fear developers may be ÒtrashingÓ the land to make it appear more like a brownfield site in a bid to ease the road to planning permission.

Nick Philp was one of the Sheet villagers who formed RADISH (Residents Against Development in Sheet) to fight moves to develop Churchfield.

He told The Herald this week he had watched as a JCB went into action last Saturday and Sunday.

ÒAs a result the field has changed its look, contours and nature dramatically,Ó he told The Herald.

ÒI think a developer is blatantly flouting the planning laws. In my opinion they are paving the way towards getting housing on that land by trashing it to make it look like a brownfield site and ease the route to planning permission.Ó

He said the field, in the conservation area, was one of the few local sites that had remained undisturbed since the Iron Age. Many interesting artefacts had been found there in the past.

ÒIf there are any more they could now be below two metres of soil and spoilt, if not smashed or lost forever,Ó he said.

Last year residents told developer NW Holdings, which owned the land, that they believed its proposed development of between ten and 20 houses would add to huge parking problems, endanger rare wildlife species, create more flooding problems and cause the largest divide the village had ever seen.

At the Sheet Village Association annual meeting the Parochial Church Council was criticised by angry villagers for offering its support to the scheme, if the land was re-zoned for housing.

After the meeting, when more than 80 villagers filled the Scout hut in Inmans Lane to grill the developer, The Sheet Association decided to conduct a poll of all villagers. That showed that 70 per cent were opposed to the development rising to 96 per cent within Sheet village itself.

But earlier this year church leaders at Sheet decided to go it alone and make a bid for planning permission.

The Rev Sarah Chapman told villagers through the Sheet News: ÒThe parochial church council has a duty to protect its position with regard to possible development and has to recognise that the land is now owned by a developer.Ó

She said church leaders believed it was only a matter of time before NW Holdings or another developer acquiring the site would be successful in their planning application, irrespective of whether the application had the support of the Church or not.

She warned: ÒThe only way to prevent development is for Sheet Village Association to acquire the land.Ó

She said the PCC had decided to submit a planning application for a church hall and extension on part of the land close to the church.

The Herald was unable, at the time of going to press, to establish who currently owns the land.