WEYMOUTH'S Colwell Shopping Centre could be knocked down and replaced with a three-storey complex boasting 23 apartments.

A planning application has been submitted to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council by Purbeck company 10Ant Group Ltd which proposes to radically change the site.

Developers hope to demolish the existing 30-year-old building and replace it with two shop units, together with 23 apartments, seven car parking spaces, bin and cycle stores in a three-storey mixed-use development.

Michelle Hind, president of Weymouth and Portland chamber of commerce, welcomed the application and described it as ‘what the town needs’.

She added: “This is part of Weymouth’s regeneration.

“Any investment into the town is going to be of benefit to everybody, and with more housing and more parking you can’t go wrong.

“This also provides an opportunity for the smaller businesses there to branch out and look around at what other areas are available in the town centre, because there are plenty of them.”

But Vanessa White, who set up her dog grooming business Not Just Poodles at the Colwell Centre last May, said news of the application felt like ‘a kick in the teeth’.

She said she had not been notified of the application and questioned how long she would be able to remain at the centre.

She added: “Most of us have paid a lot of money to get our businesses up and running and now this seems like my livelihood is going down the drain.

“Rents at other areas in the town centre itself are too expensive, so I couldn’t afford to move. My customers have said how convenient it is me being based at the Colwell Centre.

“Now people have heard about this outline planning application they may avoid the centre or think it’s already closed, which means I might lose trade.”

However, chairman of the Weymouth BID Steve Newstead described the planning application as a ‘positive step for Weymouth’.

He said: “The Colwell Centre has always had a bit of a chequered history because of its small retail units. It has always been a white elephant.

“What we do really need in Weymouth is more accommodation and parking. Any regeneration for the town centre is a good thing.”

Comments on the application can be made via the borough council and should be submitted by May 7.

The application will then be considered by the planning committee.