Plans by Cordage 46 to refurbish Old Farmhouse in Fordingbridge and create new homes from outbuildings set to be refused by NFDC

PLANS to refurbish a listed farmhouse in Fordingbridge and create new homes from outbuildings are set to be thrown out.

Developer Cordage 46 wants to build five dwellings at the Old Farmhouse, a Grade II-listed building, in Salisbury Road, Burgate.

Documents submitted to Cordage 46 detail the refurbishment of the farmhouse and the demolition of outbuildings, which would be replaced with an L-shaped building comprising one three-bed dwelling and a pair of two or three-bed homes.

The substantial rebuilding and conversion of another outbuilding would create two four-bed homes.

The site, which would have a new access created from Fryern Court Road as well as an existing route from Salisbury Road, would also have 14 car parking spaces.

The application has been welcomed by Fordingbridge Town Council, which says the plans “sympathetically improve and develop an existing site which is in need of renovation”.

But it has concerns over the exit on to Fryern Court Road due to flooding, which it says could be resolved with remedial work.

One objection has been received from a resident worried about loss of privacy, additional traffic and the impact on biodiversity and local amenities.

A district council report to the planning committee, which will meet next Wednesday, recommends refusal, stating: “The proposal does not offer any justification for the provision of five additional homes within the countryside and is therefore contrary to both local and national policy.

“Whilst the scheme does offer some benefits to the listed farmhouse on site, there are significant concerns with regard to the proposed demolition and reconstruction of the remaining buildings within the site in terms of their adverse impact on the setting and significance of the listed buildings both within and adjacent to the site.

“Weighing up the scheme's public benefits against this harm, it is considered that any public benefits associated with the renovation/ rebuilding of a dilapidated building and refurbishing the listed farmhouse and front garden area would be materially outweighed by the scheme's negative heritage impacts.”