A PLANNING appeal to build 49 flats and homes in New Milton has been allowed by a government inspector despite concerns over the effect it will have on the surrounding area.

McCarthy and Stone has finally been given the go-ahead to redevelop 32 sheltered apartments for the elderly, which will include a housing manager's office, communal facilities plus car parking and landscaping at the Westover Garage Renault dealership at Lymington Road and Barton Court Avenue.

The development will also include 17 affordable units with their own car parking and landscaping at the site.

McCarthy and Stone originally submitted an application for 56 sheltered flats and 16 units of affordable housing in September 2005 but it was dismissed after a government planning inspector decided it would be out of character and harmful to the appearance of Barton Court Avenue.

Despite redesigning the plans to meet the previous inspector's criticisms, New Forest District Council rejected the proposal, saying the sheltered block along Barton Court Avenue would be "incongruous and dominating and harmful to the established context".

But government planning inspector Paul Dobson disagreed with the council's concerns, saying: "In my view, the total heights of this part of the sheltered block, both to its eaves and to the roof ridge lines, would not seem incongruous or out of place."