WHITEHILL Town Council has accused East Hampshire District Council of “not having the decency to ask us if we mind” over a plan to run the new ’green loop’ through the Deadwater Valley.

Chris Mitchell, chairman of the council’s amenities committee, told councillors at a meeting of the committee on September 5: “After all, we are the owners of the land!"

“They (the district council) have sent out their proposals to the Deadwater Valley Trust but we haven’t been consulted and it might well affect the by-laws there.

“This is something that needs to be discussed. We don’t want to be roughshod,” he added.

Mr Mitchell’s comments followed a discussion by members about a letter the chairman of the Deadwater Valley Trust sent to the district council, pointing out that the trust had not been consulted about the recent publishing of a map and costs relating to a new route through Alexandra Park which the trust manages on behalf of the town council.

But the trust said it was grateful for the green loop funding to improve sections of the tracks in the Deadwater Valley Nature Reserve and recognised “the route is fundamental to the concept of the green loop as the Deadwater Valley Local Nature Reserve constitutes a large green space to the east of the urban community”.

However, the trust added that it had been “concerned” for some time about the designation of Alexandra Park as an additional green space to complement the Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs) in the at Bordon and Hogmoor Inclosures. The SANGs have been designated, as part of the redevelopment of Whitehill and Bordon, to provide recreational space for the thousands of new people expected to move into the town as up to 3,350 new homes are built over the next 15 to 20 years.

The hope is residents will be discouraged from using the nearby commons - Woolmer Forest, Shortheath Common, Kingsley Common and Broxhead Common - which are protected as wildlife habitats.

According to the Deadwater Valley Trust letter: “While it may be appropriate to consider Alexandra Park additional to the Bordon Inclosure, since it abuts onto the (Bordon Inclosure) SANG at its northern boundary; nevertheless, it is an integral part of the Deadwater Valley Local Nature Reserve and controlled by the by-laws for the whole nature reserve.

“It also has a different management plan from that of the Bordon Inclosure SANG.”

So the recent presentation of a map and provisional costing for a new surfaced wide route through part of the Deadwater Valley Local Nature Reserve at Alexandra Park - a route for cyclists and walkers leading to Camp Road opposite Budds Lane - “was unexpected and relatively advanced in planning terms without any prior consultation with managers, the Deadwater Valley Trust or Whitehill Town Council, owner of the land”.

The trust’s letter continues: “The trustees would welcome the opportunity to meet both district and town councillors to achieve an amicable solution.”

Town councillor Ian Georgii suggested that councillors ask fellow committee member Adam Carew, who is also a district and county councillor, “to get involved in this on our behalf because we don’t want wide footpaths built in the reserve, which could be used by by 4x4s”.

Paths had to be wide enough for dialed scooters, said councillor Roger Russell.

Councillors agreed that, in support of the Deadwater Valley Trust, they wanted to put their point of view to the district council about the consultation. The Green Loop, which will circle Whitehill and Bordon, will be for the use of walkers and cyclists to encourage more outdoor activity as part of Whitehill and Bordon’s new status as one of the country’s 10 so-called healthy towns.