MAP-MAKING giant, Ordnance Survey, has been given a unanimous all-clear for a new £40m HQ at Nursling.

It was approved as part of the first big development on Adanac Park by a meeting of Test Valley Borough Council's southern area planning committee in Romsey on Tuesday.

The overall scheme for six plots was a joint application by the trustees of the Barker Mill Estate and OS, whose 16,409sq metre plot towards the southern end of Adanac Park will be the second-largest on the site.

Before the vote was taken, the council's deputy leader and member for planning, Martin Hatley, said: "We are very lucky to have such a high-quality proposal in front of us.

"Ordnance Survey will act as a magnet for other employers and I am sure that this will be a jewel in the crown of our commercial land portfolio."

But while the scheme was welcomed, there were calls for measures to minimise the impact on Nursling's residential areas in the shape of screening trees and parking controls.

Nursling councillor, Nigel Anderdon, was particularly concerned at the four-storey design of one building and called for it to be reduced to three. He and other members of the committee also called for strong landscaping belts to screen the industrial development from homes.

A suggestion for "green" roofs to encourage wildlife came from committee members, including Alan Dowden, who described the scheme as "a fantastic development which will produce three or four thousand jobs".

A strong call for safeguards for residents against indiscriminate parking around their streets came from Nursling and Rownhams Parish Council chairman, Phil Bundy.

"We don't know how many people are actually going to be employed on the site and if Ordnance Survey employees live more than five miles away, they are unlikely to ride a bike there, especially on the M27!" he said.

On behalf of OS, planning consultant, John O'Donovan, explained that minimising traffic impact had been a key consideration.

He said there were likely to be 1,000 OS jobs as staff moved from its present headquarters at Maybush with other companies on the site employing another 3,000.

Gordon Bailey questioned possible problems arising from pollution by thousands of extra vehicles, but Mr O'Donovan pointed out: "The Environment Agency is happy that the levels will be within government standards."

Ordnance Survey is the first organisation to take a plot on the site and, in welcoming the council's decision, director-general and chief executive, Vanessa Lawrence, said: "Our vision of a building fit for a world-class, 21st-century mapping organisation is today much closer.

"This decision means we can modernise our working conditions; something that is essential for our future.

"We are delighted that the new Ordnance Survey building will be at a major gateway to the city which has been our home since 1841. This is great news for our staff, most of whom live within the Southampton area."

Work is likely to begin this summer, with a completion date late in 2009. No announcement has been made yet as to which companies will take the other five plots on Adanac Park.