CAMPAIGNERS against a proposed 1,200 home estate at Chawton Park Farm have called for the plan to be scrapped, claiming it would gridlock roads, making residents’ lives ‘hell’.

Chawton Park Road and its junction with Whitedown Lane at one end and its exit via Northfield Lane, under a very narrow rail bridge on to the A31 roundabout, at the other is the proposed access for the estate.

The campaigners say adding the proposed estate after 280 homes now being built on Chawton Park Road are finished will put more cars on the local roads than they can cope with, and gridlock the area.

Say No To Chawton Park Farm spokesman Carol Palmer said: “We can only see Chawton Park Road and Northfield Lane becoming a quagmire of cars and residents’ lives being made hell.

“It is an inescapable fact that the Chawton Park Farm estate would result in further Chawton Park Road traffic chaos.

“The sooner this scheme is removed from serious consideration, the better.”

Among the campaign group’s members are traffic experts who have reviewed earlier Alton Town Council reports and Hampshire County Council papers.

They say these reveal the roads can’t safely take cars from another 1,200 homes.

The 2015 Alton Transport Strategy shows after the 280 Crest Nicholson homes are completed, there will be queues of around 34 vehicles at morning peak hour emerging from Chawton Park Road on to Whitedown Lane.

The strategy predicts the junction will be operating at 96 per cent capacity – well above its practical limit, say the campaigners.

And in a letter the county council said that Chawton Park Road ‘modelling’ showed it would be operating over its theoretical capacity after the 280 houses are built.

“And this is before the proposed estate on Chawton Park Farm goes up,” said Mrs Palmer. “But maybe recognition of the potential problems with Chawton Park Road are dawning.

“This week we spotted vehicle monitoring cables across it and a new two-way camera at the Whitedown Lane junction.”

For details about the Say No To Chawton Park Farm group email [email protected]