CAMPAIGNERS waging a battle to prevent thousands of houses being built on the Manydown estate to the west of Basingstoke may win the right to speak at an important council meeting.

In an unusual step, the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane - Cllr Gerry Traynor - has agreed to ask councillors to let campaigners address the meeting of the full borough council on September 18 when the Local Plan Review is considered.

The council will be voting on the Cabinet decision to make the Manydown acres a major development area for the years after 2011.

A key Save Manydown campaigner, Ted Blackmore-Squires, has told The Gazette: "We hope the councillors will be moved to seek a humane solution to the housing provisions in the Local Plan."

He said there will be a protest outside the Civic Offices on the night in order to stress that realistic post-2011 requirements could be met from land already designated for development but not built on, plus brownfield sites.

Meanwhile, in another unher-alded development, two of the key family directors of the Manydown Company have broken a seven-year silence on the controversial planning issue by speaking and writing to The Gazette. The company formerly owned the land at the centre of the controversy and continue to farm it.

Hugh and Charles Oliver-Bellasis say they support the council Cabinet's position and have been moved to contact The Gazette by "false information or misunderstanding" in the debate about the county and borough councils' joint purchase of an interest in the land.

Charles Oliver-Bellasis told The Gazette: "Once we had done the deal we became silent partners because there was no point in us putting our oar in. But we feel it is time to put the facts and our point of view across.

"Some people may well say 'They would say that wouldn't they', but if we are going to have this sort of development we must have sufficient control of the land for it to be done properly. Modern developments are very good."

Mr Oliver-Bellasis said he would not be attending the council meeting on September 18, adding: "I don't want an egg thrown at me. I don't deserve it. This is a decision which has got to be made."

* If you have a view on the Manydown issue, write to The Letters Editor, The Gazette, Gazette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or e-mail editor@basingstokegazette.co.uk