A THREE-year-long battle to tear down a social club and replace it with a medical centre and homes has finally got the thumbs up.

Osborne Road Developments Ltd applied in 2016 to tear down part of the former Wykeham Club, and it returned with a series of applications all of which were refused by Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) or withdrawn.

But last year the developer took two of its schemes to the Planning Inspectorate which has now ruled in its favour on one of them.

A report by inspector Benjamin Webb has given the company the go-ahead for eight homes as he said it would not “cause harm” to the street scene, despite concerns raised by TVBC and neighbours.

The outline plan is for a medical centre, pharmacy, and eight new homes on the site.

The club closed five years ago.

Mr Webb dismissed the other appeal for 10 flats, stating the idea to have balconies on the flats would have given the building an “ungainly top-heavy appearance” and would be out of place in the street.

The developer will also be allowed to construct what they say is a “much-needed” medical surgery and pharmacy.

Sam Omonua, project development consultant, said: “We have approved planning which is fantastic. We felt the original plan for 20 flats would have benefited the council more as they would have ended up with some affordable housing but we are happy with what has been approved.

“It has been a long and unnecessary fight with lots of one-to-one meetings.

“We always believed in what we were doing. We felt the site had potential for development, there is clearly a need for housing and we are in the market for providing housing for people.”

Mr Omonua said that the site will include a medical centre as the developer felt there was “demand”.

He added: “The medical centre will be marketed for sale for someone to occupy in the next two months. If we can’t find a use for the medical centre then we may have to turn that into flats.”

Some of the applications were initially refused by councillors who said that the development would encroach into the street scene and does not respect or protect the character of the area.

And neighbours said that the plans would also exacerbate the problem of parking as the area would be dominated by hard surfacing and parked cars, but this was refuted by Mr Webb.

However, Mr Webb told the developer that it must follow a string of conditions before any building work.

It must carry out a full site survey, provide full details of the proposed finished floor levels of all buildings and external surfaces, and provide information of positions of bin stores.

It will also have to submit a further application which would need to be approved by TVBC. It is hoped work will start in April.

The club, accessible from Western Road and Osborne Road, closed in April 2014, due to a “significant drop in attendance”.