‘Risk’ offices could become flats after plan refused
A Bath office block that could have created 80 new jobs could now be converted into flats.
BEGG Nominees Ltd’s hopes to add an extra storey onto 4-5 Railway Place were dashed amid concerns for the conservation area and the World Heritage Site.
The property firm previously secured permission to turn the building into 21 flats – before tighter controls were brought in – and that scheme could now go ahead.
Making the case for the extension to the office space, the agent for the developer told planning committee members on January 15: “This doesn’t create substantial harm. You have to consider the benefits. The increase in grade A floorspace of 990 sq m will create 70 to 80 jobs.”
Until last year, developers could turn offices into housing without the need for a formal planning application.
Bath and North East Somerset Council cracked down after the city lost lots of office space, but permission was granted to convert 4-5 Railway Place into apartments before those controls came in.
The agent added: “There’s a risk if this application isn’t approved the whole of the office space will come forward as residential – the loss of 3,700sqm.
“Bath consistently fails to attract office occupiers. It’s having a negative effect on the city.”
Supporting the application, Councillor Andy Furse had said it was “vital” that the site remained in use as office space. Bath Preservation Trust, however, objected to the scheme’s “unacceptable height, scale, design and materiality”.
Recommending refusal, officers said: “The changes proposed in this resubmission are not considered to overcome the negative impact on the setting of the listed buildings, the World Heritage Site and the conservation area.”
The committee voted to refuse planning permission.