Bargate Homes proposes up to 70 new homes off Pauletts Lane at Calmore, near Testwood Lakes nature reserve

Up to 70 new homes are proposed on farmland at Totton just 100 metres from the Testwood Lakes nature reserve.

Pegasus, on behalf of Bargate Homes, is asking New Forest planners whether an environmental impact assessment is needed before it submits a full planning application.

The screening request was made for the land east of Pauletts Lane at Calmore where it plans the homes with “alternative natural recreational greenspace”, public open space with planting and landscaping over 3.8 hectares, while promising to safeguard existing boundary hedgerows and trees.

The site comprises three fields centred on the Greenacres farmhouse and associated outbuildings. To the north is the A36 Salisbury Road, while there is further grazing and woodland to the east, west and south.

The agent says that while the site can be considered rural, as it is surrounded by agricultural land and woodland, it remains well connected to highways, as it is situated between the A36 and A326, with the M27 less than 2km to the north.

It adds: “However, it is recognised that the site lies 100m or less (at its nearest point) to the south-west of an environmentally sensitive area, that being the Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve, which is also designated as a Ramsar site, a special protection area, special area of conservation, site of special scientific interest and a RSPB Reserve.

“Nevertheless, it should be emphasised that the A36 (Salisbury Road) physically separates the site from this ESA.”

If approved, the development would take about two to three years to complete once construction starts, with a new access junction from Pauletts Lane, and the existing track removed.