CONTROVERSIAL plans for a 6,500-home eco-town took a step forward last night.

A blueprint outlining housing needs in Fareham borough was backed by the council’s Tory-dominated Cabinet.

It includes proposals to build a new town on land between Fareham, Knowle, Wickham, Portchester and the M27.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

The land had already been earmarked for mass development before council leader Sean Woodward announced his intentions to turn it into a designated eco-town earlier this year.

Those who object to the land being built on have formed a group called South Hampshire’s Unheard Voices.

One of its members, the Fareham Society, said the scheme would see “prime” agricultural land lost forever.

Spokesman Brenda Clapperton said: “This is an enormous proposal, filling in nearly all the land between Fareham and Wickham and it is going to have a huge effect on the quality of life in the area and the transport system in Fareham borough.”

If the document is given the green light by the full council next week, and once a public inquiry has taken place next year, detailed plans could be submitted as soon as 2012.

The new homes, expected to be built between 2016 and 2026, would be subject to the toughest environmental standards ever set for new developments in the country.

They would be specially designed so they needed less energy to run, making them cheaper for residents as well as more environmentally friendly.

Every home would be within a ten-minute walk of frequent public transport, a primary school and everyday neighbourhood services.

A minimum of one job per household would have to be reached by walking, cycling or public transport.

The homes must now be environmentally friendly and 40 per cent of the town must be green space in a bid to tackle climate change.

The scheme, backed by a group of councils known as the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire, would be the second eco-town in Hampshire, with Whitehill-Bordon, in the north of the county, named as one of the first locations in July 2009.

Last night community boss Councillor Connie Hockley said: “I support the whole package. What we’re being asked to do is to agree in principle.

“Once that has been agreed, then we get down to the nitty gritty with the transport and infrastructure planning.”

Full council will consider the draft document at the Civic Offices on November 18 at 6pm.