PLANS to redevelop a former transport hub in the centre of an upmarket Hampshire town have been unveiled.

Landlord Estates is seeking consent to demolish the old bus station in High Street, Lymington, and replace it with nine houses and a shop.

It follows an unsuccessful attempt by another company, Ringwood-based Renaissance Retirement, to use the high-profile site for housing.

Renaissance applied for planning permission to build a retail unit and 17 sheltered flats for the elderly after the bus station closed in 2015.

Two £10m proposals submitted by the company were rejected by New Forest District Council. Renaissance lodged appeals but both were dismissed following a public inquiry.

One of the 50 objections to the first application was made by the council's own conservation team, which said the scheme would harm the Lymington Conservation Area.

Landford Estates has now submitted its own proposals for the site after buying it from the Go Ahead Group.

A company spokesman said: "The Renaissance scheme was considered to be unsympathetic to the site’s history, and to the listed buildings which adjoin the site, but the principle of residential development with a retail unit was accepted.

"Landford have been working closely with the council to produce a scheme that's sympathetic to this historic site and its immediate surroundings.

"The total floor area will be in the region of 14,000 sq feet - approximately half that proposed by the Renaissance scheme.

"Access from the High Street will open on to a paved and cobbled courtyard area with a central tree. This will provide a much-improved setting for the Grade II-listed Londesborough House."

The spokesman said the proposed development included a paved and cobbled lane, reflecting the lanes and alleyways which typified historic parts of the town.

He added: "Each house will enjoy a private walled garden, and the historic boundary walls of the site are mostly retained."

The new scheme has been welcomed by the Lymington Society, the town's conservation watchdog group.

Spokesman Don Mackenzie said: “It has the feel of an attractive mews-style of development and has a traditional style which sits much more comfortably with the many listed buildings around.

"Our initial feeling is the scheme will form the basis for an appropriate and attractive development which will enhance this important site in the town.”