PLANS to demolish and rebuild a care home have been refused by the council with the scheme described as ‘cramped and over intensive’.

The plans, for Long Close Rest Home in Forest Road, Poole, would have seen the current 17-bedroom home knocked down and replaced with a three-storey, 32-bedroom home.

The current building is also three storeys, but the proposed care home would have had a larger footprint, which the applicant said would ‘make a more efficient use of land’.

A planning statement submitted with the plans said ‘substantial’ investment would be needed to modernise the current home, which is ‘not financially viable’, hence the planning application.

Bournemouth Echo: The planned care home.

However, the scheme was met with 25 objections from neighbours, with concerns including overdevelopment and an ‘overbearing and oppressive’ new building.

Objections were also filed against the scheme by the council’s highway’s officer, waste officer and biodiversity officer.

A case officer’s report concluded: “The proposed scheme would result in an overdevelopment of the site.

“The proposal would be cramped and over intensive and it would sit uncomfortably in its setting, failing to respect the prevailing and established pattern of development that is characteristic of the area.”

It added: “The obvious socio-economic benefits of delivering 15 additional care home bedrooms on site would not outweigh the harm identified above.”

The planning officer also highlighted the concerns of the highways officer, which said there were too few parking spaces at the home.

The report said: “The lack of car parking will result in drivers trawling the streets looking for parking, drivers taking short term parking risks or parking in inconsiderate locations which would increase vehicle manoeuvring on the highways adjacent to the site, increasing highway safety dangers.”

Planners found the proposed building would be ‘dominant and unduly prominent’ in the road, which detracting from the ‘spacious and sylvan character’ of the area and impacting on the nearby Chester Road Conservation Area.

The scheme was also refused due to a lack of a bat survey, and the new building would create a ‘dominant and oppressive’ development for neighbouring properties.