1/1 HEALTH chiefs are drawing up a £4.5m plan to transform an ageing hospital site in the New Forest. The scheme includes a proposal to demolish the main building at Ashurst Hospital - a former workhouse - and replace it with a 70-bed care home. A two-storey extension to the Snowden Centre - home of the New Forest Birth Centre - is also planned. NHS Property Services has already approached the Lymington-based National Park Authority (NPA), which has ruled that an environmental impact assessment must be submitted. A preliminary report prepared by NPA planning officers describes the proposed development as very significant .