MORE than 1,000 people in Fareham have signed a protest petition demanding greater local powers over planning.
The local MP, Mark Hoban, will present the Fair Planning for Fareham petition to Parliament on Wednesday.
The Tory MP said people were furious that important planning decisions, such as the future of the Cold East Hospital site, were made in Whitehall.
Mr Hoban will join a delegation from Fareham Borough Council, led by executive leader Sean Woodward, to meet planning minister Keith Hill. He said: "I have been overwhelmed by the support for this petition from local people.
"They are angry that so many planning decisions affecting Fareham are taken not by local councillors but in Whitehall.
"We want more decisions, such as those affecting important sites such as Cold East, to be taken locally by people who understand the impact of development on the borough.
"Instead of local people using local knowledge to decide these matters, we have to go and tell the minister what the implications are of building hundreds of extra houses in Fareham."
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has unveiled plans to build more than 200 homes on the site of the former Cold East Hospital.
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