PROPOSALS for the biggest-ever housing development in Winchester should be scrapped because they would put too big a strain on the city's health and transport facilities, it has been claimed.

City councillors yesterday said they would have rejected the scheme for 2,000 homes at Barton Farm had not the developer appealed.

CALA Homes took the action because the planners failed to determine the application in time. A public inquiry will be held next April.

CALA wants to build on the 208 acre greenfield site east of Andover Road in between Weeke to Harestock and the railway line.

It is hugely controversial with nearly 500 residents objecting.

This is the second major development in Winchester under the spotlight in two days after the Daily Echo reported plans for a £100 million regeneration of Broadway-Friarsgate.

Yesterday the planning committee met at the Guildhall to decide what its decision would have been had not CALA appealed. Councillor Neil Baxter, Conservative, said the new estate would overburden local health services. "The RHCH is running at full tilt, and there just isn't the capacity for an extra four or five thousand people."

Councillor Ray Pearce, Liberal Democrat, said Barton Farm would be a commuter dormitory, offering nothing except traffic jams.

Labour leader Patrick Davies slammed the proposal and warned the council needed to brace itself for next year's inquiry.

Mr Davies said: "We need to be certain that we have watertight reasons for refusal. We have to be able to prove them in front of an inspector, and if we don't, we'll undermine our case."

Tory councillor Ian Tait said he opposed the scheme, but also warned that the city needed new homes.

He argued that a lack of affordable housing was forcing out young people. Winchester has had no major housing schemes since Badger Farm was completed in the mid-1980s.

The committee voted unanimously to oppose the scheme, following advice from officers.

However its vote is academic as the final decision will be made at the inquiry by the planning inspector.

Mike Emett, of CALA Homes, argued that a dearth of new homes in Winchester was creating sky-high property prices. He said: "There is overwhelming evidence that housing is needed now."

But Laura Clarke, of the Save Barton Farm Group, stated that about 5,000 Winchester residents opposed the scheme.

She said: "Local amenities will become overwhelmed. The sudden influx of thousands of residents into the city will lead to a change for the worse."

Geoff Bruty, of Manningford Close, Abbotts Barton, said the development would put thousands of extra cars on Winchester's roads.

Mr Bruty said: "Can anybody believe that all these vehicles would have no significant impact? It defies belief."

Antony Skinner, of the City of Winchester Trust, accused CALA of impatience.

"The trust urges the council and planning committee to stand firm, and not succumb to this pressure from a powerful and well-advised developer," he added.

Both sides have blamed each other for the delay in reaching a decision. The council says it was not given vital facts in time, while the developer says the authority was tardy in requesting the information.