Builder Harnden Homes appeals NFDC refusal to replace Lower Pennington Lane home with five new houses

A BUILDER is challenging New Forest District Council’s refusal of permission to replace a four-bedroom home in Pennington with five new houses.

Harnden Homes Ltd applied to develop Crossways in Lower Pennington Lane with a set of four-bedroom properties.

NFDC refused the new homes as not “sympathetic” to the design of existing homes in the area and would appear “cramped, intrusive and out of place”.

But the appeal stated it “strongly refutes” the council’s argument against the design and that the “siting of the houses close together in the plot is indeed characteristic of the established pattern of development of this area”.

It also rejected a planning officer’s claim that the contemporary style of the homes “does not already have precedence in the area”, saying said there is already a “diverse range of architectural styles and forms of housing from different eras”.

It stated Harnden Homes Ltd “considers there are no adverse impacts that would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposal and planning consent ought to be granted”.

Lymington and Pennington Town Council and civic group the Lymington Society both objected, claiming the scheme was overdevelopment.