Councillors reject plans to convert office block

Members of Adur District Council have thrown out plans to convert an industrial park office block into 53 flats.

The council’s planning committee unanimously turned down a proposal last week to convert the Quadrant building in the heart of Lancing Business Park into flats, as the controversy over proposals to reform the national planning system continue.

Planning officers recommended rejecting the application as any future residents of the building would live in unsatisfactory conditions due to the level of noise generated by the industrial estate.

The council received 25 letters of objection from firms and residents.

Councillors listened to these concerns and unanimously rejected the proposal as future residents of the converted building would suffer from the level of noise generated by nearby businesses.

The use of permitted development rights to convert empty blocks into homes has proved to be controversial in the past.

In February, Harlow MP Robert Halfon condemned the use of converted ‘rabbit-hutch housing developments’ in his borough, which he said have had a ‘catastrophic impact’ on local life.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament, Mr Halfon described converted office blocks in Harlow as ‘ghetto building, human warehousing and social cleansing’.

The government’s current proposals to reform the planning system include creating ‘growth areas’ in which applications would be automatically granted approval, allowing property owners to convert workspaces into residential buildings with no checks or balances.

Although there has been speculation recently that ministers may water down some proposals following heavy criticism.

‘This application was a threat to the growing prosperity of Lancing and Adur in general,’ said Adur’s executive member for regeneration, Cllr Brian Boggis.

‘Our aspiration is to provide local jobs and to lose this space would seriously deplete our opportunity to achieve this aim.

‘We recognise the need for more homes in Adur and we want to create more homes. But they need to be good-quality homes built in areas fit for homes.

‘The government’s planning white paper erodes our opportunities to expand our prosperity in Adur. Local councillors know what is best for their area, so any move to weaken planning committees is a big mistake.’

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