Fareham Borough Council (FBC) has recently submitted its Local Plan (2037) to the Government’s
Planning Inspectorate for approval. This latest plan now includes the allocation of farmland south of
Longfield Avenue as the site for 1,250 new houses and land at Crofton Cemetery for up to 180 new
houses. These areas currently form vital green space as part of the much-needed Strategic Gap
between Fareham and Stubbington.
The prior version of the Local Plan contained assurances from Fareham Borough Council that there
would be no development within the land comprising the Fareham/Stubbington Strategic Gap,
however, it would appear that they constructed this plan with incorrect housing numbers and, on
realising their error, have decided to sacrifice the Gap rather than prioritising build on the remaining
Brownfield sites to be found within the Borough,
The traffic loading in this area to and from the A27/M27 is already horrendous at certain times of
the day and the additional cars associated with this development will cause yet more congestion to
Newgate Lane, Longfield Ave, Peak Lane, May's Lane and Rowan Way, and will also nullify any
benefit to be gained from the Stubbington Bypass. The Gosport peninsula (already recognised as an
area of deprivation) will effectively find itself “bricked in” by this proposed development.
Biodiversity currently to be found within the Strategic Gap will be displaced as the currently green
space is covered with concrete/houses which will impact the environment further by generating
more wastewater and sewage. Air quality will also be further degraded by fumes from the extra
traffic. There is also the likelihood of more nitrates (from the additional wastewater/sewage) being
passed into the Solent from an already overloaded (Southern Water) sewage system with resultant
increase in green algae and risk to aquatic and bird life.
Our local Doctors’ surgeries are still coping with the fallout from the Pandemic as well as ordinary
care, and are currently bulging at the seams. This has resulted in the recent problems at the
Sovereign Health Network, the partnership between Jubilee and Whiteley Surgeries, and the
Highlands Road Practice. Dentists are fully committed, local bus services are inadequate and
unreliable, and schools are oversubscribed.
The residents of Fareham need to fight back, stop the development of our Strategic Gaps and
compel the council to reconsider its development plans, in particular its failure to fully exploit the
Borough’s Brownfield sites before encouraging the development of our few remaining green spaces.
We need to ensure that our opinions are passed on to the Planning Inspectorate. I would therefore
appreciate it if you would sign this petition and would also welcome any thoughts you may have on
the subject which the Fareham Independent Group (FIG) will ensure are passed on to the Inspector.
For example, are there alternatives to building on the remaining green areas within Fareham e.g.
Daedalus remains the largest Brownfield site in the Borough and, even after the sinking of some £50M of taxpayers’ money, remains currently under-utilised - partly as a site for the relocation of small businesses from elsewhere within the area, and the majority of the land being utilised as a runway for the purposes of pleasure flights. It is also alleged that Commercial flights may be in the pipeline for Daedalus!