PLANS for a luxury multi-million-pound mansion on an unspoilt stretch of Hampshire coastline have split the community, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Public opinion is divided over proposals by business tycoon Jim Ratcliffe, founder of the Ineos chemical company, to build a five-bedroom property complete with sauna, boathouse and staff quarters.

The New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) will determine Mr Ratcliffe’s application to redevelop an isolated site at Thorns Beach, near Beaulieu.

NPA chiefs have so far received 38 letters of objection and 29 supporting the scheme, revealed by the Daily Echo last month.

Objectors include Beaulieu Parish Council, the New Forest Association, the Solent Protection Society and Lord Montagu’s Beaulieu Estate, which says the design appears to be based on a sailing club.

The scheme, which includes a giant mast overlooking the Solent, has been designed by a leading architect who once worked for Prince Charles.

An NPA report summarising the 67 responses quotes the objectors as saying the house would be visually intrusive and “too imposing” for the site.

A separate report by NPA planning officer Clare Ings says the proposed development is much larger than an existing property on the site.

Peter Roberts, chairman of the New Forest Association’s planning committee, said: “This development is a serious threat to the coastal area and sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to more development in the future.”

However, a design statement that forms part of the planning application says the property would have only a “minimal” impact on the area.

“It will provide a high quality and architecturally stimulating development - a true next generation country house,” adds the statement.

Mr Ratcliffe, 58, is a former billionaire whose personal fortune is now estimated at £150m.

His neighbours include Dire Straits musicians Mark Knopfler and John Illsley.