A COUNCILLOR has hit out at a council's local plan policy over controversial plans for a Lidl and care home.

Last week, planners approved a 141-bed care home on land at Bargain Farm, Nursling which was previously earmarked for business use and a park and ride.

On the same site, partly owned by Southampton County Council, there are plans for a brand new Lidl.

Now, Nursling and Rownhams councillor, Phil Bundy, has hit out at Local Government Inspectors.

The area plan, which was adopted in 2016, clearly showed that land at Bargain Farm would comprise a Park and Ride facility of three hectares, employment provision classes B1/B2 (business) of two hectares and 23 dwellings around Bargain Farm House.

Vehicle access to this site was to be via Adanac Drive with another access only for pedestrians and cyclists from Frogmore Lane.

All of this was agreed by a Government Local Plan Inspector.

In 2019 - the access from Frogmore Lane could also become an access for vehicles and not just pedestrians - was agreed by another Government Inspector three years later who overrode the original Government Local Plan Inspector.

Cllr Phil Bundy said: "One person effectively blew a hole in a well constructed plan and opened the floodgates for the latest proposals which now include a Lidl store on the portion of Bargain Farm under the control of Southampton City Council."

A statement from Nursling and Rownhams Parish Council said: "Hence we are where we are today, therefore at a Southern Area Planning Meeting on Tuesday, February 18, Cllr Phil Bundy along with his colleague Cllr Alison Finlay, felt that the latest proposal of a well designed care facility was a better proposition than yet more industrial units which would have had a much greater impact on the houses in Bargain Close.

"The architecture had been much improved and fitted better in this particular area.

"We will now have to wait for more details about the approved NHS health campus and the revised park and ride scheme to be located adjacent to the care facility."

Cllr Bundy added: "The disappointment about this situation is that one person, a Government Inspector, can override and undo the democratic process leading to the adoption of the Local Plan and change the character of an area totally disregarding the recommendations of the previous Government Inspector."