Plans for three houses near Romsey could be approved next month

An application was submitted to Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) to construct the five bedroom houses west of All Saints Church in Church Lane, Awbridge.

If approved, the church would be able to create a car park that could fit 25 cars, plus a hearse and mourners car.

The graveyard could also be extended, giving the church a total of "100 spaces" burials.

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Deputy leader for TVBC, Cllr Nick Adams-King, said he believes the plans are expected to be brought to the Southern Area Planning Committee in April.

He said: "Awbridge Parish Council voted in favour of it on February 25 and the application will probably go to the planning committee sometime in April, but I would have thought it would be April 27."

The community leader added there have been some changes to the plans after the applicant and one of the wardens for All Saints Church, Fred Tucker, consulted with Church Lane residents.

According to a document submitted to TVBC, the car park has been reduced from a proposed 42 spaces to 25, which will be moved to the rear of the site where the graveyard extension was proposed.

"The space for future graveyard expansion will be provided between the car park and the Church Lane boundary," the document reads.

Plans for a church community garden have now been scrapped, meaning the gardens for the new houses can be extended by around 15 metres.

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As reported, critics of the controversial application claimed the development is not supported by the community, despite being branded as a "community-led scheme".

Manuel Caballero, who lives in Church Lane, said: "The proposal that the development would increase the community usage of the church is frivolous as Awbridge already has a modern, vibrant village hall a walkable distance away with good parking facilities."

He added the development is "a significant and unnecessary" change to the land, while criticising the "minimal" community consultation for the plans.

"There was a consultation to which I replied and objected to. Now I hear there is 'complete community support' for the proposal," he said.

Gregory Hine, who lives in the same lane, objected to the plans claiming he had not been invited to contribute to any community consultation, despite living "opposite the proposed development".

He said if the application is approved it could set a precedent for future developments, worrying this would create a "residential street in place of a country lane".

However, Cllr Adams-King previously backed the "community-led scheme", believing the church would be able to hold big events without residents having to park on a narrow lane nearby.

He told the Advertiser when there is a big event at the church cars have to park on Church Lane, which is narrow.

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Mr Tucker explained the plans and said: "It is a long-standing problem and if we get planning permission for the three houses we can provide ourselves with a car park and have a community garden where people can sit in - at no cost to the church.

"We have also got about 20 spaces left in the graveyard and, although we don't have a lot of burials a year, if we don't provide that extra space unfortunately people are likely to be buried in the Romsey cemetery.

"This is not ideal because many people have chosen to be buried near their families, but if we have the extension we will have 100 spaces in total."