Crest Nicholson South told to address concerns of Ringwood Town Council before decision is made on 443-home Moortown Lane scheme

A DECISION on a controversial plan for 443 homes in Ringwood has been deferred amid suggestions the developer ignored neighbourhood and local plans.

Developer Crest Nicholson South has submitted a hybrid application for the site off Moortown Lane, wanting full permission for 150 homes and outline permission for up to 293 dwellings.

The land, about 29 hectares, is earmarked for development in NFDC’s Local Plan.

It has been recommended for approval by council officers, but members of the planning committee, which met on Wednesday, did not agree.

They ruled the developer should meet with Ringwood Town Council to address concerns for the scheme, which is “at odds” with the town plan.

Cllr David Hawkins told the meeting he was “very, very, very” disappointed that the neighbourhood and local plans had been ignored.

The developer has split the scheme into phases, with the first involving the delivery of 150 homes – a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats and three and four-bedroom houses.

Of these properties, 75 are earmarked for affordable housing through social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.

Access to the site will be from Moortown Lane, including a new pedestrian and cycle crossing to the south.

Future vehicle access would be provided to Crow Lane and Wellworthy Way through the delivery of a series of connecting roads as the development progresses and properties are sold.

Cllr Jeremy Heron, who represents Ringwood south, shared his concerns over the lack of access.

Speaking at the meeting, he said: “If they can’t deliver on the access routes they should not put a single brick on the floor.

“The other issue I’ve got is our policy is against the removal of formal open recreation space, but they are planning to use part of that space as a footway.

“It is very clear – you cannot touch open space – so the footway is technically, under our own policies, undeliverable.”

To address this, the developer has applied for a change of use on land adjacent to Crow Lane to turn agricultural fields into public open space.

The second phase – the outline application – would provide 58 affordable properties.

The development will deliver a total of 133 affordable dwellings including 47 social-rented units, 46 affordable-rented units and 40 shared-ownership units.

The application prompted 117 letters of objection, with local people criticising the loss of greenbelt, the lack of local infrastructure, the impact on schools and doctor surgeries, and the mixture of housing proposed. It was also claimed the character of the town will be damaged by the development.

Other objections referred to the potential for flooding and increased traffic, as well as the loss of agricultural land.

Ringwood Town Council is also against the scheme, claiming it goes against the town’s recently adopted Neighbourhood Plan and does not provide enough affordable housing, demanding a policy-compliant 50% instead of the proposed 30%.

Cllr Allan Glass said: “Although we need a lot of houses, this fails to meet the objectives of the Ringwood plan.

“It doesn’t give a mix of houses that would be of maximum benefit to the area and also the roads – we’ve got one, but the others might not [be built].”

Members voted in favour of deferring the application by nine votes to one. There was one abstention.