UPDATED plans to build more than 20 affordable homes beside a £10m hospital being built in a Hampshire village have been unveiled.

Hythe and Dibden War Memorial Hospital has been demolished and is being replaced by a purpose-built complex that is due to open in the autumn.

In many cases, the long-awaited facility will prevent Waterside residents from having to travel to hospitals in Southampton and other parts of the county.

Housed in a building that dated from the 1890s, the previous facility was next door to a medical centre which opened in the 1960s.

Daily Echo: Plans to build 22 affordable homes beside the new Hythe Hospital have been submitted. Picture: PLB Architecture.Plans to build 22 affordable homes beside the new Hythe Hospital have been submitted. Picture: PLB Architecture.

A proposal to build 21 homes on the medical centre site was approved by New Forest District Council in 2018. Planning permission for the scheme has now expired, resulting in the new application.

A total of 22 flats and houses will be provided if the authority gives itself consent to forge ahead with the plans.

The application says: "The area immediately adjacent to the site accommodates a new hospital building which is nearing completion.

"NHS services currently operational on the application site will move into the new hospital once it is up and running."

Describing the medical centre buildings as "tired and ageing", the application adds: "Whilst this accommodation is currently occupied by the NHS, it will become vacant and redundant once the remaining functions have moved into the new hospital."

Daily Echo: An artist's impression of the new Hythe Hospital, which is due to open later this year.An artist's impression of the new Hythe Hospital, which is due to open later this year.

The proposed development will occupy land between Beaulieu Road and Fawley Road.

It comprises nine one-bedroom flats, six two-bedroom flats, two two-bedroom houses, three three-bedroom houses and two four-bedroom houses.

The application says: "The design approach has been carefully considered to ensure it responds positively to the surrounding context, including the new hospital.

"The proposal will not result in the loss of a health facility in this location.

"It will instead see the relocation of existing services to the neighbouring new hospital whilst allowing for the effective re-use of soon-to-be vacant buildings on the application site."

Daily Echo: The previous hospital has been demolished to make way for the new complex.The previous hospital has been demolished to make way for the new complex.

The application says the design of the housing scheme aims to ensure it "remains subservient" to the new hospital.

"It has always been the aspiration for the hospital to form a prominent civic building in this location."

The previous facility was opened on November 25 1922, replacing Hythe and District Hospital in nearby Atheling Road.

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