NFDC rejects two homes plan for suburban Ringwood site

PLANNERS have rejected a proposal to build two homes in Ringwood.

The applicant was seeking permission from New Forest District Council to build the properties, with access and parking, at 79 Eastfield Lane, but this was refused.

In a report to councillors, an officer wrote: “The proposal represents an unsympathetic and contextually inappropriate form of backland development by reason of its intrusion into a large area of green land designated as tranquil green space.

“The subdivision of this area to provide two additional single-storey dwellings would result in an incongruous, discordant and unsympathetic form of development, harmful to the character and appearance of this green rural margin.”

The officer also said the recreational and air quality impacts of the proposed development “would not be adequately mitigated” and would “unacceptably increase” pressures on sensitive conservation sites nearby.

Ringwood Town Council had also recommended that NFDC reject the plan, saying the development would “erode the character” of the area.