PLANS to bulldoze a former social club and replace it with 12 affordable homes have been approved.

New Forest District Council has given itself planning permission to replace the old Testwood Club, which occupies a prominent site at the junction of Salisbury Road and Testwood Lane in Totton.

Work on a project to provide a two and three-storey block containing a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats is due to start early next year.

As reported in the Daily Echo the club closed in 2018, having served the local community for around 70 years.

The detached two-storey building went on the market in 2019 and the council’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Jill Cleary, agreed the authority should buy the property.

The application said the community activities that took place in the building had switched to other venues.

It added: "This site has previously been identified by both private and public sector organisations as being suitable for housing.

"The proposed development will provide 12 new council flats comprising six two-bed flats and six one-bed flats."

The application has sparked nine letters of objection, including two from the same address. Objectors said the building was too big and amounted to overdevelopment of the site. They also feared extra traffic would endanger cyclists and pedestrians.

But a report to councillors cited the number of people waiting for affordable homes in Totton.

It added that the proposed development complied with policy, amounted to an appropriate use for what was currently a vacant site and would provide much-needed homes.

Cllr Maureen Holding said she was delighted with what she described as an "excellent" scheme.

Cllr Sue Bennison added: "This will provide 12 roofs over people's heads who will come off our housing list, so all in all I think it's pretty good."

A council spokesperson said: "We are delighted that the planning committee unanimously supported the proposal for 12 affordable homes and in the process of doing so recognised the high quality approach that has been taken to the design.

"It is now necessary to finalise the planning permission and prepare detailed construction drawings, prior to tendering a building contract.

"It is anticipated that building will start early next year with a view to completion in the spring or early summer of 2023."