THE FACTS - oblec

The Facts

Environmental & Infrastructure Challenges

Hampshire County Council wants to build up to 900 houses on the Land East of Basingstoke site inside our Parish. We are concerned that the local facilities, already under pressure, will struggle further: local traffic will also become unsustainable on roads already struggling with the volume of traffic through the Parish.

GP Surgeries

There is one GP surgery in Old Basing and Lychpit serving approximately 7,400 residents of the Parish. Adding another 2,160 people to the Parish from up to 900 new houses – which is a conservative estimate of additional population – will require additional GP facilities to serve new residents and there are no plans provided currently to suggest that this will be the case. This will no doubt cause concern for those in the Parish who are already worried about the strain put on the Old Basing surgery by those registered to the practice. The number of patients per GP is already above the average for England and more GPs would be needed to maintain the already stressed situation.

Dentists

Schools

There is an Infant and a Junior school in the Parish and no secondary schools. Whilst Great Binfields School has possible expansion opportunities, adding 2,160 residents to the Parish will mean that both the Great Binfields and Old Basing schools will be put under significant pressure for places unless new schools are built. There are plans to build a new primary school on the Land East of Basingstoke site but when will this be built? When Lychpit was developed in the late 1970s/early 1980s new residents were promised a primary school would be built in Lychpit. Great Binfields School was opened in 2001, in Chineham, not Lychpit.

Traffic

OBLEC has particular concerns about the additional traffic in Old Basing and Lychpit as a result of 2,160 more residents. Old Basing especially already experiences unacceptable levels of traffic on Hatch Lane, Crown Lane, Newnham Lane and also The Street and Church Lane; we can only see this becoming a greater problem with so many more people in the Parish. The A33 – a road already at capacity – is also a concern, especially during peak commuting hours. The intention is to have one entrance into the development from the A33. This has implications for vehicles entering and exiting the site plus the passage of emergency vehicles. Traffic pressure will increase around Sherfield Park and the Redlands area. Pollution, noise and congestion are all worries for local residents. There is much talk of promoting walking and cycling but realistically if you are at the far end of the Land East of Basingstoke site, almost into Sherfield, you are going to have to drive to access shops, schools, employment etc. The area is poorly served by public transport at present and it would be foolish to assume that this will change, despite the optimistic plans of the developers to introduce a bus route through the site

Global warming and destruction of the countryside

Digging into the soil to build releases carbon. The building industry is responsible for over 30% of emissions. Green fields and woodland absorb carbon. It could be argued that, before new builds, existing building should be re-purposed and brownfield sites be developed, not green fields. The Loddon Valley supports 43 species of birds, nine of which are red listed. On the Land East of Basingstoke site in the spring and summer skylarks sing. If you walk the footpaths in May you will hear cuckoos – these birds will not be there if there is development. The birds are protected by law but their habitat is not. Any additional house building anywhere in Basingstoke will increase pollution. The sewage treatment facility is at capacity and when it rains ‘storm overflows’ put raw sewage into a tributary of the River Loddon, so into the Loddon and the Thames. This was happening for many days in January 2023.

GP Surgeries

There is one surgery in Old Basing and Lychpit serving the 7,140 residents of the Parish. Adding 6,000 people to the Parish from 2,150 new houses – which is a conservative estimate of additional population – will require additional GP facilities to serve new residents and there are no plans provided currently to suggest that this will be the case. This will no doubt cause concern for those in the Parish who are already worried about the strain put on the Old Basing surgery by those registered to the practice. The number of patients per GP is already above the average for England and at least four more GPs would be needed to maintain the already stressed situation.

Dentists

There is currently one BUPA private dental practice in Old Basing and Lychpit. There are currently no NHS places at this practice, forcing residents to look outside of the Parish. Also, there are currently no NHS places at the dental practices in neighbouring Chineham or anywhere in the locality as the last remaining NHS dentist is about to close. Adding 6,000 people to the Parish will only increase the pressure on dentists unless further dental practices are proposed.

Schools

There is an Infant and a Junior school in the Parish and no secondary schools. Whilst Great Binfields School has possible expansion opportunities, adding 6,000 residents to the Parish will mean that both Great Binfields and Old Basing schools will be put under significant pressure for places unless new schools are proposed. When Lychpit was developed in the late 1970s/early 1980s new residents were promised a primary school would be built in Lychpit. By the time Great Binfields School was opened in 2001, in Chineham – not Lychpit – they were grandparents. The proposals talk of ‘houses’ – no schools or other services.

Traffic

OBLEC has particular concerns about the additional traffic in Old Basing and Lychpit as a result of 6,000 more residents. Old Basing especially already experiences unacceptable levels of traffic on Hatch Lane and Crown Lane, plus Newnham Lane and also The Street and Church Lane; we can only see this becoming a greater problem with so many more people in the Parish.

The A33 is also a concern based on existing traffic levels, especially in peak commuting hours. We believe that many new houses would be serviced by this road and this will increase the traffic pressure around Sherfield especially.

Pollution, noise and congestion are all worries for local residents. There is much talk of promoting walking and cycling but realistically if you are at the far end of Site 001 (called East of Basingstoke) almost into Sherfield, you are going to have to drive to access shops, schools, employment etc. This area is poorly served by public transport at present and it would be foolish to assume that this will change. The 800 houses on Site 007 (Hodds Farm) would be served by the A 30 and if new residents wanted to travel towards Basingstoke, they would probably go through Old Basing to avoid Black Dam, making the current rat-run much worse.

Global warming and destruction of the countryside

Digging into the soil to build releases carbon. The building industry is responsible for over 30% of emissions. Green fields and woodland absorb carbon. It could be argued that, before new builds, existing building should be re-purposed and brownfield sites be developed, not green fields. The Loddon Valley supports 43 species of birds, nine of which are red listed. On Sites 001 and 002 (East of Basingstoke and Lodge Farm respectively) in the spring and summer skylarks sing. If you walk the footpaths in May you will hear cuckoos – these birds will not be there if there is development. The birds are protected by law but their habitat is not.

At Hodds Farm (Site 007) there are five patches of woodland that are marked on the 1900 Ordinance Survey map, and may be much older. Any additional house building anywhere in Basingstoke will increase pollution. The sewage treatment facility is at capacity and when it rains ‘storm overflows’ put raw sewage into a tributary of the River Loddon, so into the Loddon and the Thames. This was happening for many days in January 2023.

Environmental & Infrastructure Challenges

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