AFTER more than 10 years of wrangling and protracted negotiations, planning permission for a Victorian mansion near Petersfield could at last pave the way for a new hotel in the town.

Plans to create a 69-bedroom hotel at Adhurst St Mary, off the old A3 near Sheet, complete with a restaurant, leisure facilities and a function room following the development of 16 homes within a walled garden to fund the restoration, were finally given the green light last week.

Until now, planners at East Hampshire District Council have feared the consequences of allowing homes to be built ahead of the alterations of the now badly-neglected Grade II Listed country home could lead to the abandonment of its restoration scheme.

But James Nolan, the owner of the 19th century property which stands in once-magnificent 32-acre grounds within the South Downs National Park, has always maintained that he wanted to enable the house to be restored to its former glory.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.