CIVIC chiefs have rejected the latest bid to build homes on the former site of a Hampshire pub that was wrecked by fire.

The New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) has refused to support a new proposal to redevelop land which was occupied by the Flying Boat Inn.

The site at Calshot Road, Calshot, has been derelict since the pub was demolished in 2001 after a major fire.

A plan by F B Estates to build seven houses on the land was refused by the NPA last year after members heard that new housing in Forest villages was normally allowed only in Ashurst, Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst and Sway.

Now a similar proposal submitted by the same applicant has also been turned down.

A report to members said: "Irrespective of whether the site is defined as brownfield or greenfield, the proposal is clearly contrary to recently adopted policies relating to new residential development.

"To grant planning permission would set a dangerous precedent."

Members of the NPA's planning committee heard that the scheme was backed by Fawley Parish Council. Officers said the authority had also received a 100-name petition supporting the application.

Cllr Alexis McEvoy, a district and county councillor for Fawley, spoke in support of the proposal.

She told the committee: “This development is sensitive to its surroundings. It has the support of Fawley Parish Council and will be welcomed by local residents.

“It will add much-needed vibrancy to the village. Frankly the site is an eyesore – a blot on the landscape. This is such an opportunity.”

A design statement which formed part of the application said the farmyard-style layout aimed to reflect the site's semi-rural setting.

It added: "The proposals present a smaller footprint and a less dominant development than the Flying Boat Inn and a reduction in scale compared to the previous proposals."

But planning officer Steve Avery said: “This application goes against every policy we have in the local plan. It couldn’t be simpler than that.”

F B Estates could decide to lodge an appeal against the NPA's decision.

The Flying Boat Inn was only a short distance from the former RAF Calshot, now Calshot Activities Centre, and was an officers' mess before becoming a pub.

It closed in the late 1990s and was demolished after a fire ripped through the building a few years later.