Welborne Garden Village: Anger over bid to rename village road as part of plans for new 6,000-home development
A bid to rename a village road as part of plans for the new 6,000-home Welborne Garden Village near Fareham has been met with anger.
People living in Knowle, including parish councillors and the head of the Knowle residents association, said they don’t feel their concerns have been listened to – adding they feel like history is being removed.
Explaining the changes, Fareham Borough Council said the new road layout for Welborne means the existing Knowle Road, the main entrance to the village, will be split into three distinct sections. The western section will remain Knowle Road and the remaining sections will be renamed.
They said, in time, Dashwood Avenue will become the preferred route from Knowle to A32 via the new village centre.
Head of the Knowle Residents’ Association Loraine Rappe said the decision to change the name was very secretive and unnecessary.
She said: “It would have been nice to have been told in advance. [Buckland] have been bringing forward changes piecemeal in planning applications and so it is very difficult to keep in touch with everything they are changing.
“This name is just not in keeping with a semi-rural area.”
A Fareham Borough Council spokesman said there is no need for public consultation when making changes to road names but it had followed guidance and consulted with ward councillors, Winchester City Council and the Post Office on proposals.
A spokesman for developer Buckland said it put a number of names forward to Fareham Borough Council for the road, where new houses are being built. It said those names were based on historical references from the area.
Wickham and Knowle parish councillor Craig Manuel said: “I am staggered by the decision to change the name of the Knowle Road. It is not surprising residents are unhappy when they see plans to remove the road from history.
“The removal of 30 acres of trees and hedgerows along the Knowle Road and now the removal of its name are both considered poor and unnecessary decisions taken without any regard to the residents of Knowle village.”
He added: “Buckland Developments had the opportunity to leave the Knowle Road unchanged and work with the residents of Knowle Village, it appears profits are more important than local feelings and history.“