CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a huge “hangar-like” barn in the New Forest have been given the go ahead.

People sitting in the public gallery shouted “shame on you” as members of the National Park Authority (NPA) approved proposals to develop a greenfield site in Brockishill Road, Bartley.

The scheme, which also includes a three-bedroom house, aims to help preserve the ancient tradition of commoning.

Those involved in the practice own the thousands of ponies, cattle and donkeys that graze the Forest, preventing the area from becoming an overgrown wilderness.

A special housing scheme aims to help commoners by making it easier for them to obtain planning permission to build homes in the district.

But the application was opposed by Copythorne Parish Council and the local residents’ association.

Parish council chairman Stuart Bullen-Jarvis told the NPA’s planning committee: “The proposed new barn is extremely ugly and would be a horrendous blot on the landscape. It looks like a small aircraft hangar.

“We’re fully supportive of commoning and the commoners’ dwelling scheme, but don’t believe this application is about commoning. “It’s more about having a house and an equestrian facility in a very nice area.

“This is a selfish abuse of a good, moral scheme.”

However, committee members heard that the applicant, Clare Bates, lived on a housing estate in Ashurst.