Hordle Parish Council recommends NFDC refuses EG Dunford Ltd plan for 20 homes on Everton Nurseries site

A controversial plan to build 20 houses on land at Everton Nurseries is not the “tip of the iceberg” and more won’t be sold off “just to make money” its director says.

Simon Collyer was talking to the A&T after a meeting of Hordle Parish Council where the plans, by EG Dunford Ltd, were discussed. Members recommended New Forest District Council refuse the scheme.

Mr Collyer, whose family have owned the business for more than a 100 years, said the land was currently home to ”redundant greenhouses and outbuildings”.

“We’re still going to be there, so we whatever was put on it we wanted to be comfortable with.

“We are not just flogging off the site for a developer to put as many houses as he can there. There is a need for affordable housing in the area.

“I have employees who cannot afford to buy one, as lots of young people in the area can’t.

“The development will have 50% affordable housing which is a lot more than other sites do.”

Mr Collyer refuted claims by one objector that the application was a “Trojan Horse” and that if allowed more nursery land would be sold off for redevelopment.

He said it was “definitely a one off deal” and there is “absolutely no intention of doing that.”

At the meeting, angry neighbours said the new development, which will have 48 parking spaces, will bring “traffic chaos” to the area and “ruin the character”.

They claim access from the development, which will use one of the nursery entrances, is “not safe” and that “too many houses are being crammed into a small area”.

Residents of Farmers Walk said that there would be a “huge increase” in traffic along it once the development was built.

But Mr Collyer said residents of the road regularly used the two nursery accesses to “nip through to get onto the main road rather than go all the way round” and they would lose that ability once the houses were built.

He added that selling the land would “free up cash which will be invested in new facilities and keep the nurseries going forward.

“It has been there for a 100 years, I am the third generation and also see this as an opportunity to make it more efficient.

“It will also mean the 55 people in our employment will not be chucked out of that.”

Architect James Green told the meeting the proposed houses would be “cottage style” and contribute to the character of the area.

But some councilors pointed out that although the houses offered to the market had “open green space”, the affordable homes were much more dense.

Mr Green said there were “prescriptive restrictions” which governed the size of the homes and the rooms in them.

He said six would be offered at affordable rents and four as part of a shared ownership scheme.

The parish council voted to recommend refusal of the development on the grounds of road safety. There were two abstentions.

Eighteen local residents have written to NFDC objecting to the development, with five writing in support.

In response to the application, NFDC’s open spaces development officer Simon Hanney wrote: “The plans submitted are currently not policy compliant as there is no play provision outlined.”

Mr Hanney also shared county council officers’ concerns over a perceived lack of pedestrian pathways, drainage issues and the maintenance of hedges and newly planted trees on the site.

NFDC’s environmental health technical officer Tracey Collins said the proposed works could “pose risks to human health” and the environment if strict building conditions are not imposed.

The consultation period for the proposed development runs until 28th July.