Plans to turn the former offices of a town council into 12 flats have been given the go-ahead following a long battle.

Chinewood Ltd, owners of the old Portland Town Council Offices resubmitted their bid earlier this year requesting approval for a change of use and full planning permission for the building in Fortuneswell after a legal planning ruling quashed their original plans.

The legal ruling by the planning inspectorate said that Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's change of use approach to converting the former North Quay local government offices into homes was not valid after developer Acorn Property Group submitted plans to redevelop the offices.

The council refused Acorns prior approval plan to convert the harbour-side block into 56 flats in November 2016 and told Acorn the building was “sui generis”, or one of a kind, and any scheme for flats would need planning approval to overturn the block’s designated local government use through a change of use application.

However, Acorn disagreed and appealed the ruling to the planning inspectorate who argeed with Planning Inspector, LJ Slade stating: “Since we are concerned with the nature of the use, and not the purpose of the user, it does not seem to make any difference whether the administration is business administration, government administration or any other kind of administration.”

As a result, the borough council confirmed that the inspector’s decision also applied to the Portland Town Council Offices because the building was also classed as “sui generis” with the council adding that the "principal use of the building concerned has been the administration of local government for the Town Council" and therefore came under the same principal as the North Quay planning decision to require a change of use instead of prior approval.

As a result, the previous application to convert the Portland building into flats, submitted in January 2017, was invalidated and two separate applications, one for full planning permission and another for change of use were submitted in March and February. 

Officers approved the change of use last week basing the decision over whether prior approval would be required, as if the proposal is permitted development but not judging whether it is or isn't while full planning permission was granted under delegated powers last month.

Commenting on the full planning application, officers said: "Having considered the impact of this conversion on heritage assets, highways, flood risk and residential amenities, the proposal is considered acceptable.

The town council moved out of the building in 2016, and into new offices in Easton Street after being paid £50,000 by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to vacate the offices so the building could be sold.

Under the proposals, the plans would not include any alterations to the external layout as the layouts of the 12 one-bedroom flats will ‘work with the building to utilise existing window openings on all floors to provide natural light to all habitable rooms’.