PLANS to build a 50ft wind turbine in the grounds of a Hampshire house are likely to be blown away today.

Members attending the first meeting of the New Forest National Park Authority's planning committee will be urged to reject the energy-saving scheme.

The applicant lives in a large detached house at Loperwood, Calmore.

He is seeking consent to build a single turbine beside the property, which stands on a hill overlooking the former Tatchbury Mount mental hospital.

His local parish council supports the application and none of his neighbours has lodged an objection to the scheme.

However, National Park planners are likely to conclude that the need to preserve the Forest's unique landscape outweighs the requirement to save energy. A report to the committee says the applicant wants to build a 15m high turbine that would generate electricity for his own domestic use.

It adds: "The garden slopes away from the house and the turbine would be positioned on the highest point to gain the maximum amount of wind power available.

"The turbine would be seen from the road to the south during the winter months but would largely be screened by mature trees.

"While the degree of exposure and visual intrusion would be limited the turbine would nonetheless be visible in the landscape and would represent a visually intrusive form of development.

"The benefit of renewable energy schemes are recognised but such considerations should not take precedence over the need to conserve and enhance the landscape of the New Forest."

The report says the turbine should be rejected because of its size and proximity to a public footpath.