Local MP Maria Miller has welcomed the Borough Council's Planning Committee decision last night to reject the construction of a giant Amazon warehouse at Junction 7 of the M3.
Maria said, “The priority for Basingstoke must be the health of our community, and not for a commercial construction project to take precedence over the preferred site for a new NHS Hospital. This is why I have opposed this proposal since the original application was brought forward.
“When the Planning Committee approved the application in April, Councillors were not given evidence of the impact of the warehouse on the viability of a new hospital and the effect it could have on local infrastructure and road congestion. So I, along with other Hampshire MPs, asked the Secretary of State for Communities to review the decision through a process called ‘call-in’. The resulting delay in the planning approval process has meant the planning committee decision could be re-run and I am glad the committee have now reached a decision that doesn’t have the potential to jeopardise the road capacity around the proposed new Hospital site. Should the Committee’s refusal decision be appealed I will take the same action again.”
