DEVELOPERS have brought forward a fresh set of proposals to redevelop the site that has sat vacant for several years in the heart of Highcliffe.

The planning application from Urban Interiors (Properties) Ltd is seeking permission from BCP Council to demolish the former G&T’s original warehouse in Lymington Road and replace it with a four-storey building.

If approved, the new building would feature a ground floor retail unit and 15 apartments.

Bournemouth-based company Stonehaven Land Developments successfully obtained outline permission for a ground floor unit and nine apartments back in 2018.

Urban Interiors has submitted a full application, with two two-bed, 13 one-bed flats and six car parking spaces. The scheme is currently being assessed by the local authority’s planning department.

The approved Stonehaven Land Developments application was met with a raft of opposition from residents in nearby Seward Court.

And many of them have renewed their objections in relation to the latest scheme.

Resident Sarah Veal said: “The height of the proposed block of flats will impact greatly on the natural light for those living in Seward Court facing the development.”

Another said they could only describe the proposals as a “carbuncle on the landscape of the High Street”.

A statement submitted on behalf of Urban Interiors by Pure Town Planning said: “The layout of the scheme is intended to create high quality, sustainable accommodation for a mix of people to live where they are close to a range of local amenities.

“A commercial use would continue to be situated on the ground floor to provide an active street frontage to Lymington Road.

“To ensure an active frontage at ground floor onto Gordon Road is a achieved, a one-bedroom flat is proposed. The remainder of the residential units are situated on the upper floors.”

G&Ts closed in Highcliffe in January 2018 and the premises, which is location on the coroner of Lymington Road and Gordon Road, has been empty ever since.

As reported, plans to explore converting part of a vacant retail unit into a hydrotherapy pool were submitted to the council last year before being withdrawn by applicant Michael Finlay.