DESPITE plans for the biggest estate in Petersfield in the last few decades being approved, a last minute call from the government has stopped work starting.

This morning (May 12) South Downs National Park Authority planning committee said 200 houses could be built within half-a-kilometre of the town centre.

But the meeting in the South Downs Centre in Midhurst heard the government may want to look at the plans to build on fields at Causeway Farm.

Despite this, and criticisms the proposals didn’t meet every requirement in the Petersfield Neighbourhood Plan, members voted for the estate to be built.

South Downs planning director Tim Slaney said just before the meeting, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) confirmed it may want to study the plans.

Mr Slaney said: “If that happens, the decision made by the planning committee today will go forward as a recommendation.”

Mr Slaney said it could be six months before the Secretary of State, the Right Honourable Greg Clark MP, decides if the plans should be looked at.

If they are called in for review, work on the estate can’t begin until the government department says so.

The DCLG could either agree with the decision to allow the estate to be built, overturn it, or ask for some changes to the proposal.