PLANS for Ellesmere Port offices to be turned into flats have been refused by the council.

Cheshire West and Chester Council planners have rejected an application to convert office space at Portside House on Lower Mersey Street in the town into three apartments.

Despite the applicant being successful in securing permission for nine flats at the end of 2020, the authority has turned down this application for three more at ground floor level.

Reasons given for refusal are that this proposal include a failure to show attempts made to let the property as office space before applying for change of use, and lack of a proposed financial contribution to create an off-site play area.

According to a planning statement submitted by consultants Cassidy + Ashton, the site falls within the Ellesmere Port conservation area but the development would meet local need for one-bedroom flats.

RECOMMENDED READING; Lache volunteers recognised with Christmas lunch

The planning statement they submitted said: “The proposed scheme is consistent with the predominant use of the building, established through recent planning approvals, as demonstrated throughout this statement.

“The rental properties will meet an increasing demand for one-bedroomed properties in the local area, whilst being marketed at an affordable rate.

“As the proposed development merely seeks the conversion of part of the existing building, there are no external works required. Therefore, it is not considered that the works would have any impact upon the Conservation Area.”

But a council planning officer report outlines says the application did not show that there is a lack of demand for the site’s current use as office space in the town.

It states: “While a local search for office accommodation has provided at least 20 current vacant office units within the immediate area of Ellesmere Port, the application submission has not provided any current marketing evidence over the preceding consecutive 12 months to demonstrate that there is no reasonable prospect of the site being reused for employment uses.

“The area around the application site consists of a mix of land uses, including the industrial area of the docks to the northwest, some retail uses, a hotel and a large amount of residential accommodation, sited around the historic dock’s basin to the southeast.

“Accordingly, it is considered that the existing use makes a contribution towards the range, choice and quantity or employment land within the borough.”