CIVIC chiefs Monday night approved plans for nearly 100 new flats in Bournemouth, despite scores of objections from local residents.
Five flat schemes came before the borough's planning board and only one - proposals to convert a house in Lowther Road, Charminster, into six flats - was refused permission.
The largest development - revised plans for 63 flats on the site of the now derelict Fircroft hotel at Owls Road, Boscombe - won approval despite opposition from local residents and ward councillors.
Twenty-nine private apartments, 22 holiday flats and 12 affordable housing units will be built on the site with 42 parking spaces.
Voicing local residents' concerns, Cllr Phil Stanley-Watts said the six-storey flat block was "still too bulky," adding: "The Fircroft is part of Boscombe's heritage; why can't developers restore it instead of demolish it?"
Sharing his sentiments, Cllr Chris Wakefield said: "We have had a lot of people ring us about this application; they are concerned about the scale of the development."
But board member Cllr David Smith welcomed the revised scheme and moved that consent should be granted. His move was seconded by Cllr Linda Bailey who said: "I would be proud to have this building in Boscombe."
Vice-chairman Cllr Ron Whittaker also supported the Linden Homes' application. He said: "I wish a developer would come along and restore the Fir-croft but it's not going to happen."
Cllr Beryl Baxter said the developers had listened to the board's concerns while Cllr Ian Lancashire described the new scheme as "a massive improvement".
Chairman Cllr John Beesley urged developers to bulldoze the Fircroft hotel as soon as possible following vandalism at the site.
The move to grant approval was carried by a unanimous 9-0 vote.
While one flat scheme in Lowther Road was turned down plans to build a three-storey block of six flats on a nearby plot were approved despite 21 letters of objection being sent to the Town Hall.
A scheme for a two- to three- storey block of 14 flats at Privet Road, Winton, also won favour along with plans for 14 flats at Merlewood Close, Meyrick Park.
