A NEW battle is looming over plans to build a major housing development on the edge of the New Forest.

Churchill Retirement Living has lodged an appeal after planning chiefs rejected its application to redevelop a site at Sea Road, Barton-on-Sea.

Churchill wanted to bulldoze existing buildings on the land and replace them with 28 sheltered flats, but the district council said the project would result in a "solid block" of development that would create an unbroken frontage along Sea Road.

Now Churchill has submitted an appeal to the government's planning inspectorate, which has the power to overturn the council's decision.