USERS of the slipway at Lymington are objecting to plans by the RNLI to demolish its existing lifeboat station on the Bath Road access and replace it with a larger building.

The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, the town's sailing club and charity Lymington Sailability are just three of the opposing five groups claiming that the new station would infringe on to the available space needed to manoeuvre boats next to the slipway.

But the RNLI says that it needs a bigger lifeboat station in order to accommodate a new boat.

New Forest planners are due to discuss the application at a meeting on Wednesday and will hear that town councillors, the Highway Authority, Environment Agency and district engineers support the scheme.

The proposed building, which would be some two metres longer than originally planned, lies within the South Hampshire Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and sits adjacent to the Kings Saltern Conservation Area on the edge of a public car park opposite a listed building.

Members of the planning development control committee are being recommended to grant planning permission with conditions on the building's appearance.

Brian Palmer from Lymington Sailability said: "The whole thing is a recipe for disaster. At weekends and bank holidays the congestion in the car park and slipway is already horrendous.''