Battle has been joined in Hampshire over Eagle Star Estates’ proposal for a new eco-town at Micheldever Station. (See Observer article.)

This is just the latest chapter in Eagle Star’s attempt to create a new town. The insurer unveiled its original proposals for Micheldever Station Market Town in 1990.

At this point I should declare an interest. I was a PR manager for Eagle Star in the 1990s and played my part ten years ago in presenting the case for this new settlement.

Back then, I could see both points of view. I sympathised with local people who were upset about the idea of thousands of homes being built on their country doorstep. But I genuinely felt there was a strong case for building an attractive new community rather than destroying the character of historic towns with endless expansion. That was the message in an Eagle Star advert 16 years ago arguing the case for ‘a lovely spot against an ugly rash’.

Yet a new town is a far easier target for protest than ad hoc add-on and fill-in developments. Small wonder that developers are buying Victorian and Edwardian homes across the country and replacing them with expensive new homes.

A quick Google search suggests the protesters against Eagle Star are winning the cyber battle. The Dever Society has an excellent website; bloggers such as Martin Todd have made their views known. Yet Eagle Star’s case is invisible online; the only document from the company I could find was this summary on the Department for Transport website. This is no way to win a campaign in 2008. A credible, visible online presence is vital, especially as the influence of social media spreads.