SCORES of residents had their say on plans to build 40 homes and a 90-bed care home in Highcliffe during a public meeting on Wednesday night.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, organised by the Highcliffe Residents' Association, after the plans for an area of woodland once earmarked for a bypass were submitted by Brentland Ltd.

So many people wanted to join the meeting at the Old School in Lymington Road that it was standing room only, association chair Rob Austin said.

"There were a lot of people there with wide-ranging views," he said.

"It wasn't arranged to be a negative meeting. People have got to live somewhere but the idea was, let's balance the demographic, let's get it done right.

"It should be the right proposal for the right place."

The proposals concern disused land off Jesmond Avenue, and developers say it will make a "significant and valuable contribution towards the provision of nursing and residential care."

Part of the area was cleared last year after the land was bought back by Poole-based developers Boyland and Son, of which Brentland Ltd is a part.

It was sold by the company back in 1964 to the former Hampshire County Council as part of a compulsory purchase order to build the Highcliffe Bypass.

The carriageway was never built and Peter Boyland, owner of Boyland and Son, began writing to the authority asking to buy his land back.

Outline plans also include a proposal to improve the pedestrian path from Greenways to Lymington Road.

Mr Austin said: "It was a lively meeting.

"We really decided to sort it so people can have their say, participate and be involved in what's happening."

Residents raised concerns about wildlife and the felling of trees at the meeting.

Others said flooding at the site and in the cemetery is a concern.

Christchurch resident Elliot Marx said the site is a "crucial green corridor" linking the top of Bure Brook with Nea Meadow.

"It is irreplaceable," she said.