THEY were multi-million-pound proposals from the same developer and involved similar sites only a few miles apart, but two schemes drawn up by one of Britain’s biggest builders, McCarthy & Stone, have met very different fates at the hands of Government planners.

Plans to build 36 retirement apartments at Beaulieu Road, Dibden Purlieu, have been approved on appeal.

Government-appointed planning inspector Anthony Lyman has overturned a decision by New Forest District Council and given the scheme the go-ahead.

However, another inspector has rejected McCarthy & Stone’s application for 16 apartments in nearby Lyndhurst.

The Dibden Purlieu scheme will result in four homes being bulldozed and replaced by a three-storey complex with landscaped gardens.

Mr Lyman said the proposed development would make a positive contribution to the area. He praised plans to retain protected trees, adding that the landscaping scheme would benefit the neighbourhood by removing overgrown vegetation.

“Residents living in Heathlands Court expressed concerns about the increased traffic that the development would generate,” he said.

“But I note that the highway authority raised no objection to the proposal subject to conditions and a contribution towards improvements in transportation.”

McCarthy & Stone lodged a similar appeal after the district council rejected its Lyndhurst proposal.

However, the company’s application to build 16 retirement apartments at Cedar Mount, off Shrubbs Hill Lane, has been thrown out by one of Mr Lyman’s fellow inspectors.

John Woolcock attacked the scale of the proposed development. He said: “The scheme would rely to some extent upon screening from trees and vegetation to minimise the impact of the building.

“It would be seen as a large structure that contrasted sharply with the other buildings in the immediate area.

“The size of the proposed building would harm the character and appearance of an important approach into the village.

“A building of this scale in this location would diminish the extent to which Shrubbs Hill Road would be able to provide an attractive transition between the centre of the village and the Forest. This would harm the relationship between the village and the Forest – an important consideration given that National Park designation applies to both.”