WE will fight this to the bitter end.” Those are the words of angry Valley Park Parish Council chairman Alan Dowden who is furious at plans to build 300 homes on a designated green gap which separates the community from neighbouring North Baddesley.

Mr Dowden says the woodland site at Great Covert is not earmarked for development in Test Valley Borough Council’s draft Local Plan.

Both North Baddesley and Valley Park Councils are worried important areas of woodland could be lost and have also raised concerns about potential increases of traffic using an already congested Castle Lane which links the two communities.

Mr Dowden is angry that developers Taylor Wimpey did not stage a public exhibition about the scheme in Valley Park.

“When representatives from Taylor Wimpey attended our parish council meeting in July they promised they would hold a public exhibition in Valley Park where residents could see the proposals and comment on the plans for 300 homes but they didn’t,” he said.

He claimed Valley Park would suffer more from the impacts of the proposed development than North Baddesley because the scheme is right on its boundary. “The parish council is very upset by this application and I am pretty confident the people of Valley Park will express those same concerns and strongly object to Taylor Wimpey’s plans. This is a local gap and must not be built on. People don’t like it one iota,” concluded Mr Dowden.

A public exhibition of the plans was held at North Baddesley in the summer when the developer first announced the plans which were submitted to Test Valley planners last week.

Taylor Wimpey’s proposed scheme , which covers 203 acres, includes a mix of affordable and market value homes.

The developer says the proposals will enhance the area and the scheme will give the public more access to the woodland, which is largely commercial.

Taylor Wimpey claim it will be a sustainable extension to Valley Park which already has 2,866 households and a population of around 7,800.

The firm also denied that Valley Park residents had been kept in the dark about the project.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “In June 2014 we held a public consultation event at the North Baddesley Sports Pavilion to give local people the opportunity to view and comment upon our development proposals before we finalised a planning application for submission. Invitations to the exhibition were sent to more than 1,800 households in both North Baddesley and Valley Park on both sides of the proposed development site and the event was well attended with around 150 people coming along on the day.

“Our proposals were also available to view online and are still available to see at www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/great-covert.”

He added: “Further discussions were then held with both North Baddesley and Valley Park Parish Councils, and although Valley Park Parish Council made a request for a second public consultation to be held, we felt the initial consultation had provided sufficient opportunity for local people to view and comment on our proposals. We have maintained contact with both parish councils.

The developer claim the scheme will not only meet a need for new housing, it will also preserve a significant area of woodland.

“This will provide a fantastic local amenity for local people and will help to reduce pressure from visitors on other local natural attractions such as Emer Bog and the New Forest,” said the spokesman.