The New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) has approved an application to replace the “dilapidated” stables at Burley Manor with five new guest suites.
The Grade II-listed hotel is next door to Burley Park, home of the annual Dogstival event for man’s best friend.
A previous proposal to replace the disused stables with five shepherd’s huts was approved in 2019 and again in 2022 but was never implemented.
An NPA report said: “The current application proposes an alternative to the shepherd’s huts.
“The development would provide the same level of accommodation and is capable of being constructed without adverse impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area, the setting of the listed building, or ecology.”
READ MORE: Plans to upgrade the Grade II-listed Burley Manor Hotel have been unveiled
An application to build the U-shaped complex was submitted by New Forest Hotels earlier this year.
A design and access statement that accompanied the proposal said the proposed new suites would boost the local tourism industry, secure the hotel’s future, and enhance the site.
It added: “Until recent years the stables were used as a base for a local riding establishment that undertook trips onto the surrounding Forest via the village of Burley.
“The proposed replacement building would occupy less floorspace than the existing ones.
“It’s clear that space not only exists to accommodate such a scheme but there is considerable scope to ‘re-forest’ a large part – indeed the majority – of the site.
“It should be noted that the existing site is floodlit externally.
“There is thus an opportunity to significantly reduce the impact of this harsh, functional lighting in favour of something more subtle and appropriate.”
The statement said the scheme would affect neither the main hotel nor the sensitive parts of its immediate setting.
It added: “What is being proposed in this application is not any kind of self-catering operation.
“The guest suites would in effect be hotel rooms, wholly dependent upon the main hotel for all of the servicing and booking requirements that apply to any room within the hotel itself.
“Burley Manor is a significant local employer and its guests generate income for other local businesses and service providers.
“What’s proposed is a genuinely sustainable form of tourism development. It would secure the hotel’s position within the market, thereby ensuring it continues to remain a significant contributor to the local economy.”
Burley Manor dates from 1212 but the current building was constructed in the 1850s and became a hotel in 1935.