AN APPEAL against a New Forest District Council decision not to allow a house in Barton-on-Sea to be replaced by four properties has been lodged.

The original proposal was to demolish the existing structures at Rockwood, 42 Barton Common Lane, and build four detached houses with garages.

Refusing the plans, NFDC said the proposal's scale, layout, and density conflicts with design guidance as set out in the Council's Policy CS2 of the Core Strategy.

"The proposal fails to respect the character, quality, and valued attributes of the area and fails to respect and strengthen local identity and character," said the council. "The proposal does not contribute positively to local distinctiveness and sense of place and is unsympathetic to its settings and in its relationship to adjoining buildings and landscape features."

It also claimed the development would not contribute positively to biodiversity and would also exacerbate "the poor standard of vehicular and pedestrian access to the site, due to the increased number of vehicles using a narrow unmade access which has poor horizontal alignment and visibility for vehicles, including emergency vehicles, and pedestrians alike".

Additionally it criticised the lack of a bin storage area and potential dangers to pedestrians from vehicles backing out onto the road.