PLANS to build new units on the site of former poultry houses next to Monxton Golf Course have been recommended for refusal.

Neville Stops has applied to Test Valley Borough Council for permission for the two-storey building, containing five work units, in Monxton Road, Grateley. It would involve knocking down two large poultry houses.

But a report prepared for when the application is discussed at the northern area planning committee on Thursday has recommended that councillors refuse the plans, which include parking areas, a separate covered bin store and vehicular access.

The report states: “The proposal constitutes new housing and employment development within the open countryside, outside any established development, for which there is no justification, and this is a contravention of Local Plan Policy SET03.

“The proposed development would be incongruous and visually intrusive within the countryside in views from the nearby lane and footpath, by virtue of its siting, design, size, massing, bulk, fenestration and associated hard and soft landscaping.”