PLANS to expand Picket Piece by building more than 100 extra homes will go before government experts after developers felt they had “little option” to step their bid up a notch.

Foreman Homes has taken its fight to develop green land around the Walworth Road area into new housing estates to the Planning Inspectorate after their proposals were shot down by Test Valley Borough Council.

The developers lodged an application with the borough in May 2017 to determine the look, scale and access for 82 homes on a site adjacent Walworth Road after it was granted outline permission, but it was refused.

Foreman Homes is also fighting for its proposal to build 22 homes on land north of 10 Walworth Road which were refused in January this year.

Test Valley Borough Council planning chiefs raised a catalogue of concerns that the layout of the proposed scheme did not provide adequate or convenient resident and visitor parking, amongst other fears.

The two appeals covering the two proposals will be heard at the same hearing in front of a planning inspector on October 23 to 25.

Foreman Homes planning director Steve Carrington said: “We were disappointed to receive the two refusals of planning permission, and had little option other than to appeal against them.

“That said, however, we are still liaising closely with the borough council, and hope that a resolution, for both, can be found in the near future.”

A council spokesman said: “We shall wait for the outcome.”

And, as previously reported in the Advertiser, the company has submitted two further applications, with alterations to the proposals, in a bid to gain planning permission from the borough council, in addition to bidding for consent through its appeals.