Save Jane Austen Country.
Stop plans to build 12,000 new houses in East Hampshire - and protect one of England’s most historic landscapes.
Be part of the movement to protect Hampshire’s countryside.
Developers and council officials are pushing a plan to urbanise 14 miles of countryside between Farnham and Alresford.
If it goes ahead, ancient villages, chalk streams, and heritage landscapes that inspired Jane Austen will be lost under concrete - replaced by a near-continuous line of new housing estates stretching across Hampshire.
This isn’t inevitable. With enough local and national pressure, the plan can be stopped.
The Threat
East Hampshire District Council’s plan would see up to 12,000 new houses built along the A31, creating almost continuous development between Farnham and Alresford, and another 6,000 north of the M27.
-
Heritage Lost
Historic villages, farmland and ancient routes that have shaped Hampshire for centuries would disappear under large housing estates, destroying the rural landscape that inspired Jane Austen.
-
Wildlife Threatened
The River Wey and its rare chalk streams are home to otters, kingfishers and endangered crayfish. Large-scale development would destroy these fragile habitats forever.
-
Services Overloaded
Thousands of extra houses mean thousands more people using roads, schools and health services that are already stretched beyond capacity.
National research shows that brownfield land across the UK could hold 1.4 million homes, almost the total the government has promised to build.
There’s no need to destroy our countryside.
East Hampshire’s plan ignores the fact that the district is about to be absorbed into a new, larger Unitary Authority. This new authority will be able to plan housing more strategically — nearer to towns, transport links, and existing infrastructure.
Yet before that happens, East Hampshire officials are pushing ahead with a plan that would lock the area into decades of unnecessary greenfield development.
If they succeed the heart of Jane Austen Country will be lost forever.
What’s at Stake
This plan would permanently change the heart of Hampshire.
This isn’t about progress. It’s about the loss of what makes this area special.
The setting of Chawton, home of Jane Austen
The open farmland and woods that separate our villages
The wildlife that depends on clean chalk streams and quiet habitats
The character and identity of our communities
Once built on, this landscape is gone forever.
