A FIGHTING fund has been launched in Wellow in a last-ditch bid to overturn plans for 10 new affordable homes in the village.

Test Valley Borough Council's Southern area planning committee voted in September to recommend that the Western Challenge Housing Association scheme for the homes on land off Romsey Road should be rejected.

But when that recommendation went before the Borough's planning control committee, it was overwhelmingly given the go-ahead amid an outburst of disapproval from villagers who attended the meeting.

Now campaigners have announced that they are considering a legal challenge to the council's decision. A spokesperson said they see the proposed development, on the edge of a 20-acre field in the New Forest Heritage Area - that could lose some of its power when the

National Park is formally designated - as the thin end of the wedge.

He added that papers released to campaigners last week under the Freedom of Information Act confirmed that in July and August last year, Test Valley Borough Council officers and Western Challenge Housing Association discussed plans for a longer term extension to double the size of the scheme. This, campaigners argue, will bring the rest of the field into play in due course.

He added: "We also learned from other papers released that there were originally seven sites short-listed for the scheme, most with much less impact on the countryside."

Residents, he said, had obtained legal opinion from planning lawyers with regard to a number of aspects of the planning process, and had been advised that they have good grounds for having the final decision quashed by a judicial review.

But he pointed out: "Although we believe we have a good case, legal action is an expensive process and we have to be prepared to lose. We need a substantial fund, and we are appealing to all households in the village and beyond to chip in with whatever they feel they are prepared to risk.

"The upside is that if we win we preserve Wellow's countryside and will be able to return most of the money to contributors." A public meeting is planned for Wednesday (7.30pm) at Wellow Primary School.