An office block is set to be demolished to make way for more than 40 new homes next to a 19th-century manor house.

Developers have already been given the green light to turn the grade-II listed Southleigh Park House and other existing buildings in Eastleigh Road, Havant, into 20 homes.

Now, a second part of the scheme has been given the go-ahead by borough council planners, with 41 new homes set to be built in the estate’s parkland.

The building of the new houses will ‘lag’ behind the conversion of the main house to ensure the work is completed, Havant Borough Council’s planning officer said.

The site between Bartons Road, Horndean Road and Eastleigh Road is being developed by Bargate Homes Ltd and Vivid Housing Ltd.

The 1983 office building and associated brick and glass corridor link will be demolished to make way for 41 new dwellings reduced from 70 that had been approved in 2019.

Consultants say the new dwellings will be two or 2.5 storeys, have between one and four bedrooms, and be traditional in appearance with pitched roofs and casement windows. The main external material will be red brick with some grey brick on “key landmark buildings” and roofs of red/brown tiles or grey slate.

William Chalker, who lives in Eastleigh Road, challenged the planning documents on drainage, flooding, traffic and pedestrian safety.

He said: “Is the planning committee aware that whenever there is rainfall an area of Southleigh Road between Eastleigh Road and Horndean Road is often impassable due to flooding? This is the low point where the flood water coming down Eastleigh Road collects.”He said that access to the road network from the south of the site into Eastleigh Road is ‘wholly unsafe’ for walking and cycling.

The planning council’s consultant at the meeting said that Hampshire’s highways team has already approved the plot for up to 70 houses and so these issues will not come back to the public for consultation.

In response, planning committee chair Councillor David Keast (Conservative, Cowplain) asked the senior planning officer if he had heard the issues Mr Chalker had raised, inferring he would be involved during any future council and planning/developer consultations.

Plans showed 85 of the 281 trees on site will be chopped down and replaced with 44 new ones.

Luke Vallins, from Bargate Homes, said it is not a one-for-one replacement of the trees removed because that wouldn’t be possible in order to ensure the trees “thrive and flourish”. A balance between the new houses and shadowing caused by existing trees needed to be achieved and now, fewer trees than were scheduled to be cut down in what is considered open parkland.

Mr Vallins also said that traffic had been addressed at the outline planning meeting and Hampshire’s highways chiefs had not found a problem which was contrary to Mr Chalker’s arguments.

Before recommending the plans for approval Councillor Diana Patrick (Conservative, Stakes) said in her 10 years as a councillor she commended the developer with the ‘overwhelming care’ they had taken in these latest plans. And she stated the original plans were ‘criminal damage’ of a heritage house that needed renovating.

Councillor Mark Coates (Labour, Hayling East) said he couldn’t see a way to refuse the proposal and was disappointed the plans did not include affordable housing.

Councillor Grainne Rason (Green, Emsworth) said the lack of social housing which was desperately needed in the borough was regrettable.

The reserved matters application APP/17/00863 was granted by the committee and work can now begin.

The News 13th January