A LARGE plot of land on the outskirts of Whitchurch with planning permission for 94 homes and employment use is up for sale with Carter Jonas.

The land owner, the Hospital of St Cross, is selling the site which comprises two adjoining parcels of land on the north-west edge of Whitchurch. Pro Vision, a firm of planners and architects, drew up a comprehensive scheme for the new neighbourhood on behalf of the charity.

The first parcel of land, a former horticultural plantation off Evingar Road, comes with outline planning permission from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for 60 new houses and flats, including 24 affordable homes.

The site – five minutes’ walk from the town’s train station – also has consent for 3,300 square metres of employment space and a new 70-space railway station car park.

The second parcel of land, the former allotment site off Bloswood Drive, has planning permission for 34 homes. The allotments have already been relocated with improved facilities (toilets and storage buildings) as part of the comprehensive scheme.

The scheme includes a large area of public open space (about 15.5 acres in total), including the new allotments, community orchard and kickabout space. Ownership of the open space will be transferred to Whitchurch Town Council. Plans include landscaping and a new ecological area.

Vehicular access is via land off Caesar’s Way and Evingar Road and there will be new pedestrian and cycle ways linking the scheme to the surrounding area.

Pro Vision guided the charity through the neighbourhood planning and planning application process, consulting local residents, town councillors and planning officers at key stages to come up with the agreed scheme.

In 2015, the firm won a planning appeal to build 34 homes on the former allotments after permission was initially refused by councillors despite a recommendation for approval from officers. More recently, Pro Vision was successful in securing allocation of the entire site for housing and employment in the Whitchurch Neighbourhood Plan.

Commenting on the scheme, Richard Osborn, associate director said: “We engaged with the community from the very early stage of the neighbourhood planning process. We listened and with the help of residents, secured significant benefits for the wider community. Not only that but the sale of the site will help to preserve the Hospital of St Cross.”

The development site is being sold by Carter Jonas with prospective purchasers invited to make written representations by August 9.