✋🏻 Say NO to 230+ More Houses in Rownhams
Broadleaf Park was never designed to support the scale of development now being proposed. With 300 homes already built, the estate is struggling with traffic, parking issues, safety concerns, and overstretched local services.

Now, a proposal to build another 230 houses threatens to double the size of the estate, pushing already strained infrastructure beyond breaking point and permanently changing the character of our village.

 
🏠 What It Really Means:
🏘️ 230 new homes = 575+ extra residents
🚗 345–460+ additional cars, all using just one access road
🛣️ No new junction – traffic merges directly onto Rownhams Lane, a fast-moving, heavily used road
🏫 No new schools or GP surgeries proposed
🌧️ High flood risk area – no drainage plan submitted
🌲 Borders Ancient Woodland – no legally defined buffer
🚧 One road in, one road out – the same for everyone
 
🚨 One Road In, One Road Out
Broadleaf Park has only one access point, connecting to Rownhams Lane – a narrow, fast-moving road already monitored by police enforcement vans and fitted with a speed indicator device (SID) due to ongoing safety concerns.

This development would funnel hundreds of extra vehicles through that same single route, increasing congestion, raising accident risk, and further deteriorating local air quality.

📉 Real-World Impact:

Between 2020 and 2023, there were 14 recorded crashes on Rownhams Lane/Rownhams Road  4 of them serious. That figure only includes reported incidents the true number could be higher.

This report is now two years old, and since then, traffic has increased due to ongoing estate development and local growth. Introducing 230+ new homes, with an estimated 345–460+ cars, would significantly escalate the risk not just for drivers, but for children walking to school, cyclists, and pedestrians who already find the roads unsafe.

🚷 There are no plans for new roads or improved access – only more pressure on a fragile traffic system.

For residents, cyclists, and pedestrians, the risks will only grow.

📋 TVBC Knew the Risks – But Skipped the Safeguards
Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) acknowledged the environmental risks of this site but decided not to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that would normally protect communities from inappropriate development.

✅ TVBC’s own records confirm:
The site borders Ancient Woodland and lies next to Tanners Brook, a flood-prone watercourse
The development meets EIA thresholds for size (230 homes and over 5ha of land)
Their own screening listed risks in nearly every environmental category:

⚠️ Flood risk across the site
⚠️ Surface water drainage issues
⚠️ Impacts on biodiversity and protected habitats
⚠️ Heritage and archaeology sensitivity (including a Roman road)
⚠️ Landscape and visual harm
⚠️ Serious traffic impacts due to one access point
⚠️ Cumulative overdevelopment from nearby schemes
 
❌ But instead of requiring an EIA, they said:
Future documents “might” address the risks
No ecological surveys were needed yet
No flood modelling was required yet
No visual or landscape impact study was submitted
No full traffic analysis was carried out
There were no binding commitments - just vague references to future mitigation.

 
🔍 The legal safeguard designed to protect our community was ignored.
The Environmental Impact Assessment process exists to thoroughly test the combined effects of developments like this on roads, nature, flooding, services, and health.

TVBC chose not to require one even after multiple expert bodies raised concerns.

Now, we’re the ones left to carry the risk.

 
🏥 No New Infrastructure. No Capacity.
There are no confirmed plans for:

New schools
Additional GP surgeries
Better roads
Upgraded transport links
Local schools are full. GPs are overstretched. Shops are limited. The area simply cannot absorb hundreds more residents without major investment and none has been secured.

 
🌳 Loss of Green Space & Permanent Environmental Pressure
This development would destroy valuable greenfield space, eroding local biodiversity, harming air quality, and permanently changing the character of the area.

The fields serve as a buffer between homes and ancient woodland a connection to nature that cannot be replaced once it’s gone.

This isn’t just about a planning application
It’s about what kind of place Rownhams is now… and what it will become.

 
📊 What the Community is Saying
A recent community poll of over 300 Broadleaf Park residents showed that:

🔺 Over 85% oppose the proposed development.

Main concerns include:

🚗 Traffic congestion and unsafe road access
🏫 Lack of school and GP capacity
🌳 Loss of green space and biodiversity
🌧️ Drainage and flood risk
🛑 Infrastructure not keeping pace with growth
 
🧾 Even expert consultees raised red flags:
National Highways – concerned about traffic near the M27
Hampshire County Council (Highways) – flagged flood risk and one-road access
Natural England – concerned about Ancient Woodland and biodiversity
TVBC Ecology – confirmed no ecological reports submitted
TVBC Landscape – no Landscape Visual Impact Assessment submitted
HCC Public Rights of Way Team – no assessment of footpath impact
HCC Archaeology – Roman road heritage risk, with no preservation strategy
And still - TVBC said no EIA was needed.

 
🛑 Enough Is Enough.
This proposal isn’t sustainable. It’s not safe. And it’s not fair on the people who already call this community home.

It sets a dangerous precedent allowing large-scale development without full scrutiny, legal safeguards, or infrastructure in place.

 
✍️🏻 Please Sign and Share
📅 We have until 5th September 2025 to make our voices heard.

Help us stop this overdevelopment before it’s too late.

✅ Sign the petition
📤 Share it with neighbours and local groups
📢 Speak up on social media, in council forums, and with your representatives

 
💜 Rownhams & Nursling & Broadleaf Park Deserve Better.
We are not anti-housing we are pro-community, pro-safety, and pro-sustainability.

We support growth that protects people, services, and the natural world.

But this?
This is rushed.
This is reckless.
And it will permanently damage the safety, nature, and liveability of our village.

Let’s stand up before it’s too late.
Let’s stand together.
Let’s protect our future. 💜