Drab Office Block To Be Converted To Flats

- Advertisement -

Plans to convert a 1970s office block into affordable flats in Llanelli have been approved although concerns were raised about its proximity to the town’s magistrates’ court.

Members of Carmarthenshire Council’s planning committee welcomed the application by a company called Hacer Developments to give the empty building a new lease of life.

It was last used by the Department of Work and Pensions in 2018 and subsequent attempts to bring it back into use for office and commercial space haven’t materialised.

Council planning officer John Thomas described the building as drab and said it was close to a conservation area. He said he wouldn’t liken the proposal to “putting lipstick on a gorilla” but that it would certainly be an improvement.

The committee heard His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service was concerned about having people live in a building so close to the magistrates’ court and that some occupants might be able to take photos of court rooms contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 1925. It also said it was essential that construction noise did not disrupt sensitive court matters.

The planning report before the committee said construction noise would be shortlived and subject to a management plan while the separation distance between the office block and court – coupled with the court’s narrow windows – would safeguard against privacy or security issues. It added that occupants of the 27 proposed flats were also likely to be out during the day, when court business took place, which wasn’t the case when the building was used by was office workers.

The block will have a much fresher-looking exterior and a roof garden and an unsightly three-storey building at the rear will be demolished and make way for a new car park. Hacer Developments is close to finishing a large apartment block in Swansea which will have built-in greenery and a large stepped greenhouse on the upper floors.

Cllr Terry Davies said there have been drug and anti-social behaviour problems associated with the empty Llanelli block and welcomed the proposal. “This is an exciting opportunity for a long-awaited improvement in this area,” he said.

Cllr Edward Skinner agreed, saying he was happy with the planned development – described in the committee report as “100% affordable housing” – and that the block had been “an eyesore for years”.

Before the application was approved Cllr Steve Williams said he’d spoken to traders in a nearby shopping arcade and that they’d said the derelict office block was deterring shoppers from coming. Referring to the proposal he said: “I’m sure it will make a difference.

- Advertisement -