Hugely unpopular plans which would have seen six homes built next to a pub in Boorley Green have been thrown out by the council.

The application, which received more than 300 public objections, would have seen three pairs of semi-detached properties built on land next to The Pear Tree Inn on Winchester Road, as well as parking spaces and a new access road.

Eastleigh Borough Council’s Planning Committee discussed the project during its meeting on December 12 and decided to reject the application from Dorrington Homes (UK) Ltd.

The site is surrounded by others which have already been developed on.

The latest rebuttal comes after a previous proposal to provide housing on the site was withdrawn at the end of last year after sparking more than 100 objections.

In total, the new application received more than 325 public objections on the EBC planning portal, compared to only six residents in support of the scheme going ahead.

Resident Simon Green told the Echo he understood why more than 300 people objected to the initial proposal. 

He said: "I get that we need new housing but to build some new homes next to the pub seems odd as it's not a huge space. If a lot of people objected to the plans I can understand that."

Among those who were against the six-home development was MP for Hamble Valley, Paul Holmes.

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Speaking after the refusal, he said: “Thank you to all those who joined me in opposing this unsuitable development.

“It was clear this would never have worked, there was no real consideration given to local opposition when the application was put in, but it is good to see our efforts were rewarded today.”

In the refusal notice, the council said the application would have had an “unacceptably harmful and detrimentally urbanising impact upon the character of the site and that of the immediate surrounding area”.

The planning committee also stated that building homes on the large garden of The Pear Tree Inn would "unacceptably diminish" part of a much-loved community facility.

This is what the proposed homes would look like if approved This is what the proposed homes would look like if approved (Image: EBC) With the pub having a large outdoor children’s play area and seating for drinkers both would ultimately have been lost to make way for the homes.  

Another reason for refusal put forward by the council was that not enough evidence had been supplied to show that future occupiers of the proposed six homes would not be negatively affected by noise from the nearby railway line or the Pear Tree Inn.

Many of these complaints were previously highlighted by objecting residents, with resident Benjamin Meas stating: “With so much greenspace being built upon, it would be such a shame to lose this central area of land.”