Campaigners have been given a major boost in their fight to stop a huge warehouse being built between Fleet and Farnborough.

Members of the pressure group opposing the mega-depot plans for the former Pyestock site have welcomed a recent government ruling on another major application in the area.

Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has thrown out plans to build 1,000 homes on the former Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Sandy Lane, Church Crookham.

She was especially concerned about developer Taylor Wimpey’s plans to build at the southern end of the site outside the settlement boundary, known as Area C.

Ms Blears ruled that only informal open space was appropriate for the area and that such a use would defend the important gap between Church Crookham and Ewshot.

The ruling has delighted members of the campaign group SPLAT (Stop Pyestock bLot Act Today), which warns that if the mega-depot plan goes ahead it would ruin the green gap between Fleet and Farnborough.

SPLAT leader Bob Schofield said: “Obviously, the secretary of state’s words about the protection of a local gap are encouraging in relation to Pyestock as it sits within a strategic gap, one tier of protection above.

“It is also encouraging that the secretary of state has given such weight to policies within the Local Plan.”

For more on this story see the Fleet Mail or Farnborough Mail out on Tuesday August 5.