A major redevelopment of an RAF care home in West Sussex has been given the go ahead.
Despite concerns that a modernised Princess Marina House, in Seafield Road, Rustington, would be overbearing, Arun District Council's planning committee approved the controversial application last night.
The plans include a replacement three-storey care home, a two-storey sheltered accommodation building with a courtyard and car parking.
The redevelopment, by the RAF Benevolent Fund, would involve moving Seafield Road 55 metres north of the site because it runs between the current care home and sheltered accommodation.
The move will increase the care home's bed spaces from 50 to 98 and replace the 40 rooms at the sheltered accommodation block with 36 apartments.
Nearby residents say the three-storey building would be more than 40ft high and would spoil the appearance of the seafront area.
But an RAF Benevolent Fund spokesman said: "The existing building does not comply with the new Care Homes Act. Our only options are to redevelop or to close."
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