THE CONTROVERSIAL building of thousands of new homes in the Hampshire countryside has moved a step closer.

A plan that paves the way for 2,000 new homes to be built on the edge of Winchester over the next two decades has been backed.

Winchester City Council approved the strategy but will not reveal which greenfield sites will be opened up to house builders until next month.

But some will see the decision as evidence that either Barton Farm or Bushfield Camp will be developed.

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Gavin Blackman, chairman of the Save Barton Farm Group, said he wasn’t surprised by the decision. He said: “It appears there’s a certain element in the council that wants to develop on Barton Farm regardless of what the people of Winchester want.

“This decision doesn’t help but it’s no surprise to us at all. We certainly don’t think we have lost the battle, we have got plans to raise our profile early next year.

“We don’t understand, given what we have seen and what 5,000 people have told us, how anyone can try to build there.”

The strategy agreed on Tuesday is the council’s bid to meet national targets that ask the Winchester district to absorb nearly 13,000 new homes by 2026.

Around 6,000 homes will be built on new greenfield sites.

Space for the remaining 7,000 dwellings will be created by increasing housing density and upping the number of infill developments.

In a report, the city council said its decision would mean less housing having to be built in rural towns than originally anticipated.

But it said if the rural areas did have to absorb additional housing it would be concentrated in Alresford or other towns where services already exist.

● As well as Alresford it identified Bishop’s Waltham, Denmead, Colden Common, Swanmore, Kings Worthy and Waltham Chase as areas most likely to have to shoulder extra housing.