EXCLUSIVEThe Highway to 'Hellborne': Villagers' fury at road closure chaos during building work for £308m eco-housing project that has left homes cut off and ruined picturesque countryside
Furious villagers say they have been cut off from their picturesque community by building work for a £308m eco-housing project dubbed 'Hellborne', which has triggered road closure chaos.
The 'Welborne' project has been in development for decades and aims to build a 'garden village' on 1,000 acres of open land between the communities of Knowle and Wickham in a sleepy part of south Hampshire.
But locals fear the humongous development - spearheaded by a wealthy landowner - will annihilate their picturesque and rural idyll.
The project has been green-lit despite local outrage, with the first phase of the works now underway, which residents say has already caused traffic mayhem for shift workers who struggle to get back to their homes after road closures.
Building works to create the new town - which have been the talk of the area for nearly 20 years - has caused the 'morale' in the village to plummet and has meant the once picturesque landscape now looks 'a mess'.
The 'Welborne' project has been in development for decades and aims to build a 'garden village' on 1,000 acres of open land
Locals fear the humongous development - spearheaded by a wealthy landowner - will annihilate their picturesque and rural idyll
Some locals have learnt to live with the ongoing works, and said 'it is what it is' - but spoke of looming fears that the developers may flout the rules.
Their comments came after plans to build the 'concrete jungle' in the countryside were given the final green light, when cash was secured to build the homes.
Fareham Borough Council said the full funding to deliver critical infrastructure is now in place, meaning all 6,000 homes will be built.
They said that if this had not been done, Welborne would have only been able to build just over 1,000 houses.
The development - described as an 'English Garden Village' - has been in talks now for just over 17 years and promises to create thousands of 'beautiful homes'.
It is said that the major development will essentially create a new town between Southampton and Portsmouth.
The multi-million pound scheme has been headed by 60-year-old Mark Thistlethwayte - who is chairman of Buckland Development, the master developer behind Welborne Garden Village.
Mr Thistlethwayte's 'vision' is said to focus on 'good architecture' and 'thoughtful landscaping' in the hopes 'to build a new town that will look as good in 50 or 100 years' time as it does the day it is first built'.
It will features some of Britain's most eco-friendly homes, powered by a solar farm and a cutting edge underground heating network that uses heat pumps and taps into a nearby reservoir.
Works began on the site earlier this year.
According to residents, Mr Thistlethwayte has recently put up £100million of his own cash to fund the development.
Loraine Rappe chairs the Knowle Residents' Association and claimed locals were in disbelief at the scheme, which they fear will destroy the rural community forever.
Loraine Rappe (pictured) chairs the Knowle Residents' Association and claimed locals were in disbelief at the scheme
Aerial pictures show how the land has been ripped up as construction takes place
Developers continue to work on the site, causing fury among locals who have to live around the mess
Locals say the development to build a 'garden village' on 1,000 acres of open land has caused traffic chaos for shift workers who struggled to get back to their homes after road closures
Building works to create the new town - which have been the talk of the area for nearly 20 years - has caused the 'morale' in the village to plummet
Some locals have learnt to live with the ongoing works, and said 'it is what it is' - but spoke of looming fears that the developers may flout the rules
'The moral in this village has also gone so down,' she said, 'The mess that we are in and the inconvenience has been terrible.'
Ms Rappe spoke of the recent road closures which saw the Knowle Road shut from 8pm to 6am on various nights in October.
The road - which was once a 'green corridor' - is the main avenue into the village and its closure meant shift workers and people travelling from places such as London struggled to get into the village.
'That caused concern, and we will be having another closure some time soon,' she added.
'There has been massive diversions that have had to go on since the they started the development.
'What will happen is that Christmas next year, the area will be closed down because they will be putting down a special underground tunnel.
'There's only a couple of places in England that have used this special type of engineering.'
Developers said they will shut parts of the M27 to 'seamlessly slide the new underpass in using new technology' - but locals fear this will cause 'chaos' around the neighbouring areas during the busy Christmas period.
It is also in the talks for Knowle Road to change names to Burnsall Street, Ms Rappe said.
The Knowle Residents' Association said they are 'disappointed' by this proposal as the name is a 'part of the history' of the village and is not something they 'want to lose'.
On the matter, Ms Rappe said: 'This is a rural area so to introduce the term street just seems a nonsense.'
Ms Rappe also said there has been 'confusion' over the school bus stop, which was moved to four different locations during a short period.
'The temporary school bus stop is not actually tied to a lampost,' she said, 'It was a week of inconvenience.'
Many locals also aired concern on the future of the Wickham surgery, who may not be able to 'cope' with the influx of residents.
While the GP said they will take on patients living in the first 690 homes, they have urged the developers to build their own surgery as soon as possible.
Former property worker Pauline Cameron, 72, said she 'not against' the development - but spoke of the impact of living near the building work.
'People have got to live somewhere and it will bRing things closer to us like maybe some shops and maybe the buses will come a bIt closer to us,' she said.
Mary Lester (pictured), 77, said 'we could do without' the development' and said it's a 'shame' that agricultural land has been destroyed to make way for the new homes
Constant road works including temporary traffic lights have sparked anger from locals
The development - described as an 'English Garden Village' - has been in talks now for just over 17 years and promises to create thousands of 'beautiful homes'
Incredible aerial images show construction taking place at the 6,000-home development
'So, I'm not against it.
'I know a lot of people call it Hellborne.
'We didn't realise there was going to be so much work on our road because there's been traffic lights for ages.
'It sort of impacted the whole of our village because we can only go in and out that way.
'But, I think once that's done it won't be too bad.'
Ms Cameron said she has 'got used' to the development, having lived in Knowle village for several years.
'I have lived in this area nearly all my life and I knew when I was young that they were going to be building between Wickham and Fareham.'
Mary Lester, 77, said 'we could do without' the development' and said it's a 'shame' that agricultural land has been destroyed to make way for the new homes.
'I guess you could say it's impacted on the village, Knowle village, more than we were led to believe,' she said.
Former property worker Pauline Cameron, 72, said she 'not against' the development - but spoke of the impact of living near the building work
It is said that the major development will essentially create a new town between Southampton and Portsmouth
Traffic moves through the temporary traffic lights while construction takes place
The multi-million pound scheme has been headed by 60-year-old Mark Thistlethwayte
'Anyone that has moved into the village for the last 12 or so years has known that it's going to happen.'
Ms Lester said 'at one time' there was uncertainty over whether or not it will go ahead after disagreements over funding as well as groups protesting to Mr Thistlethwayte's plans.
Of how it has impacted her, she said: 'The noise level isn't too bad because they don't work early in the morning or too late at light.
'It's just sort of a bit of a mess and the other thing that I know is a concern is the wildlife.
'There's a lot of wildlife around this area and it's a question of where they're going to go.'
Retired carer Glenda Sullivan, 72, said: 'People have got to live somewhere, you can't stop that, it's going to happen.
'I was expecting it to be worse, I really don't mind it.
'It's somewhere to live, as far as I'm concerned.'
Retired computer worker David Sheath, 63, said: 'It is what is is.
'I moved into the area about 18 months ago knowing that it was going to happen.
'It's a bit annoying that they are destroying some hedgerows that don't need to be.
'The general noise is not a problem .
'It's just as long as they stick to the plans and keep it as tidy and as quick as possible it'll just go away and we can move on.'
