AFTER years of heated public debate, a final decision over a controversial development in Bransgore has been rubber stamped by planning officers behind closed doors.

Despite bitter opposition from Bransgore Parish Council and the village residents association, New Forest District Council granted conditional consent in July for four new homes on land severed from the car park of the Carpenters Arms pub in Burley Road.

And after further negotiations with developer Inntown Properties, the district council granted permission for the scheme at the end of August.

But while the consent is now cast in concrete, the row over the development rumbles on and the residents association has lodged a complaint with the local government ombudsman over the council's handling of the matter.

Residents association chairman June Richards said Bransgore people who attended the planning control committee in July were upset after councillors approved the scheme despite their concerns.

Speakers raised issues about the scale of the buildings, flood risk and traffic hazards but chief planning officer Chris Elliott assured councillors the revised plans overcame the reasons for an earlier failed planning appeal to put even more homes on the same site.

The ombudsman is now investigating the residents association's complaints.

Meanwhile, the residents association is also pressing the district council to revise its designation of Bransgore as an urban rather than rural village.

With the outskirts of the parish within the boundaries of the New Forest National Park, locals fear there will be increased pressure for in-filling developments inside the built up area of Bransgore.

"Calling us an urban area is a green light for developers," said Mrs Richards.