WORK has started on creating a large new area of greenspace ahead of nearly 900 homes being built on land in Christchurch.

Landowners the Meyrick Estate will be delivering what is known as a SANG (a suitable alternative natural greenspace) around the railway line near Burton while 875 new houses are constructed at Roeshot Hill by developers Taylor Wimpey.

In June 2017, outline plans for the housing development were approved by the former Christchurch council. This included access proposals from Lyndhurst Road, Christchurch Bypass and Hawthorn Road.

The Meyrick Estate will be providing the SANG across three sites linked by routes that are wide enough to allow a dog to be taken off the lead. It will include grazing fields between Salisbury Road and Hawthorn Road in Burton, land next to the River Mude, and accessed via the railway arch, and small parcels of land near the village bridleway.

As well as providing a space for residents and visitors to use, the SANG will aim to relieve pressure on nearby Burton Common.

The 100-acre site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the Meyrick Estate is keen to protect the heathland, which is home to a number of protected species.

The area has already suffered the effects of a fire in April and, as reported in the Echo this week, it nearly faced being set ablaze again after offenders ditched a vehicle that was suspected to have been used in a ram-raid at a petrol station.

Estate manager Liam Aggett said the new SANG will be delivered in several stages and designed to be attractive to dog walkers, who are the most frequent users of the protected heaths.

“The SANG will have broad open walkways in a naturalistic environment. It’s all being brought forward by the estate. We’ve been a manager of greenspaces for a long time. Burton Common has always been in our ownership.”

He said it was “too early to say when it will be open”.

As reported on Monday, the first phase of a new SANG will be officially opened in Poole at the weekend. It is associated with Barratt David Wilson Homes’ Canford Paddock development, which involves hundreds of new homes being built between Canford Magna and Bearwood.

Many residents are opposed to the plans, arguing new housing represents overdevelopment of the area and the provision of a SANG does not mitigate for this.