AMENDED plans to build a new three-bedroom home near Winchester have been approved after a previous design was thrown out by planners.

It means the new house, at Appletree Cottage, in Chilcomb Lane, Chilcomb, will now be built in an area of land between two existing cottages, will be part two-storey, part single-storey, and will include a detached double garage.

A previously application was refused last December and a subsequent appeal was also lost after it was deemed to be an infill development and would be harmful to the rural character of the area.

The latest plans sought to resolve those issues by re-orientating the building, using a more tradition design and reducing the size.

Despite the changes, more than a dozen objections were submitted against the plans, with issues ranging from the impact of lighting to the scale of the development, as well as its impact on the character of the area.

Chilcomb Lane resident Peter O’Sullivan told planners: “Whilst I understand that (applicants) Mr and Mrs Dhand have amended their plans, I can see very little real difference.”

Fellow Chilcomb Lane residents Susan Janet Helson repeated those views, and added: “The placement of the proposed building in this paddock would be neither complementary nor neutral in terms of impact as it would clutter the landscape and introduce a suburban feel to a South Downs hamlet.”