Early stage plans for a new 270-home residential project in Whitchurch have been revealed.

David Wilson Homes has made a presentation before the Whitchurch Town Council development committee on proposals for land to the South East of Whitchurch, wrapped around the sports fields.

The group has said the project is still in the early stage and a pre-application will be submitted before the Basingstoke and Deane Council in the Spring or Summer.

Speaking at the meeting, the project’s head of planning, Jon Gately, said: “As the local plan comes through the next stages, there may be a signal from Basingstoke that it does want to allocate some or all of the land. We don't know that for sure at this stage. But we're essentially providing you with information that we provided to the authority as to how we would envisage the development taking place over time period.”

However, there have been a few concerns about the project as the committee said they have a number of questions from local residents.

A member of the public said in the meeting that the project has not thoroughly considered key factors like highways, facilities ad landscape.

She said the project’s highway survey has some major errors. “It has unfortunately not included a peak periods of traffic as inclusive of both school drop-offs and school pickup times. Therefore the model may not be a wholly accurate reflection of how the junction or roundabout operates in practice.

“Given the number of houses and the influx of people, the effects on local facilities will also be huge.

“And finally landscape. The National Planning policy framework outlines that good design is a key aspect of sustainable development. I would like to know why the proposed plan shows a considerable increase in housing density, compared to phase one.”

Reacting to the concerns, Mr Gately said they will be addressed as the project develops.

“I know there are concerns. What you see though is really a very early stage of scoping assessment. But we felt it was worth sharing it with counsellors nonetheless.”

The committee welcomed the project, but said it has a number of questions. Cllr Tracy Woodruff said the council will send the questions of councillors and members of public in an email to the building group.