THE FUTURE council candidate for Manydown says that residents' concerns have been "disregarded" by councillors.

Alex Lee, who will stand for election for the Labour party in the newly-created ward of Winklebury and Manydown at next May's borough council elections, has said that residents in the west of Basingstoke have been "forgotten about".

Mr Lee, who spoke at Wednesday's Development Control committee meeting where the outline plans for 3,200 homes were approved, told The Gazette: "Having spoken at and listened to the Development Control Committee approving the outline planning application I feel compelled to express my utter frustration with the scant regard that has been afforded to the residents of Winklebury, Worting, Buckskin and Rooksdown.

"Whilst I appreciate, the need for developing the land, issues around traffic including flow and safety were disregarded during this meeting despite them being raised multiple times by myself, residents, visiting councillors and those on the committee."

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Construction traffic was one of the hot topics of the debate before the decision was made, with numerous residents and ward councillors raising an objection to the planned route for vehicles into and out of the site.

The primary access to Manydown's Main Street, from the A339 Roman Road roundabout, is not set to be opened until 1,200 houses are occupied on site - which, when accounting for the targeted development rate, could mean five years of construction traffic using Roman Road and the narrow B3400.

A number of concerns along these roads were heard, including of the "dangerous" Winklebury Way junction, in the words of committee member Cllr Andy McCormick, and the narrow railway bridge on Worting Road.

That will see construction traffic being routed through busy bottlenecks as well as along roads that back onto driveways, according to Mr Lee.

READ ALSO: Manydown development of up 3,520 homes given green light

"For the occupants of nearly 1000 homes, Roman Road is the primary means of access into and out of Winklebury," he continued. "It is the first road they hit if they will ever be able to get on to it once the build works for Manydown, and then the Winklebury Centre regeneration begins.

"And it is during this rise in traffic that the development will see fit to sort out issues such as how to remove the sewerage for upwards of 3200 homes which will no doubt cause more delays specifically around the Worting Road Bridge and the roundabout at the end of Roman Way.

"The bridge itself was an area of concern for a few of the speakers and I thought we were on to a winner when Cllr Nick Robinson suggested that it be considered for an upgrade in light of the ability of other councils to do similar (for example the bridges into Alton by Butts Road) but it was no surprise to hear him second the application that allowed it to pass through with no conditions applied that will improve or mitigate the impact on residents of the area.

READ ALSO: Manydown approval a "key decision" in Basingstoke's development

"Once again residents of the west of Basingstoke are forgotten about.

"It seems from the very outset that the council wanted this application pushed through and, aided by the current administration, they have achieved this once again without having any need to address the concerns of local people that will be impacted by this decision.

"Is it any wonder why people across Basingstoke seem to be losing faith in this council and particularly the minority administration in charge?"

Outline planning permission - which assessed the principle of development as well as the three main accesses to the sites - was granted by the committee earlier this week. Eight councillors (six Conservatives, one Liberal Democrat and one Independent) voted for the proposals, whilst four councillors (three Labour and one Independent) abstained.

The council will now bring back more detailed proposals of what the development will look like, before it is given permission at the reserved matters stage, which again could be decided by the Development Control committee.