PROPOSED plans for 450 homes in Ringwood have been recommended for approval.

Plans for 443 dwellings off Moortown Lane will head to New Forest District Council planning committee on September 11.

A hybrid planning application, the proposal seeks to receive full planning permission to build 150 houses and outline planning permission for another 293 homes.

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Case officer, Robert Thain, said: "The majority of the proposed residential dwellings, including the flatted blocks, are 2 storeys in height, with the occasional use of 2.5 storey buildings.

"The DAS sets out that variety in the heights and massing of the residential buildings will be achieved through a range of house types and sizes, ranging from 2 and 3 bedroom terraced and semi-detached dwellings, through to larger 4 and 5-bedroom detached houses."

Despite the likelihood that plans will go forward, Ringwood Town Council has opposed them. 

Due to be considered on July 10, the proposal was removed from the committee due to the General Election and Ringwood Neighbourhood Plan vote.

Following the vote, a new neighbourhood plan has begun to be adopted in the area which has become part of determining the outcome of planning applications.

Returning to the committee, the town council has asked for the committee to "defer consideration" on the grounds that the recommended decision does not take the new neighbourhood plans into account.

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A spokesperson for Ringwood Town Council said: "NFDC (in common with the vast majority of planning authorities) is under pressure to approve planning applications for new housing and is rightly concerned about the risk of being challenged on an appeal against refusal and the potential costs of both defending the appeal and the risk of having to pay costs should an appeal succeed.

"However, that is not a good enough reason to simply approve applications that are not “policy compliant”.

"We therefore invite the Planning Committee to either refuse the application (on the basis that it is not compliant with current policies) or to defer consideration of the application pending an updated/revised report from Officers which properly takes into account the Neighbourhood Plan and amends its recommendations accordingly."