Bid for new homes behind listed pub slated for approval

PROPOSALS for four houses behind a pub in Milford are set to be given the go-ahead from councillors.

The scheme for a vacant strip of land behind the White Horse Inn in Keyhaven Road will be recommended for approval when it is debated by New Forest District Council's planning committee next week.

Support from officials comes despite Bayview Developments Ltd’s application, which has been modified since being submitted, facing opposition from the parish council.

Members were worried about the impact of traffic accessing the new development via Grebe Close to the south, which they warned was narrow and often full of parked cars.

Ten people have also lodged similar criticisms of the scheme along with a petition of 28 signatures. Highways authority Hampshire County Council has not objected, however.

The site is adjacent to the village conservation area and the pub is Grade II listed. NFDC’s own conservation officer described the proposal as “rather cramped” and voiced concerns about its size and scale.

But a committee report said the “fairly sympathetic” design would contribute by blocking the “unfortunate” views onto the nearby industrial estate, off Laundry Lane.

It concluded: “While the proposal has a rather congested layout, and there is some harm to residential amenity, in summary it is considered that the public benefits far outweigh the less-than-substantial harm to the significance of the conservation area and setting of the listed building.”

The planning committee will meet at NFDC’s Appletree Court HQ in Lyndhurst on Wednesday 10th July.