DEVELOPERS have submitted their own plans to create homes at the former Weymouth and Portland Borough Council offices.

An application has been submitted for North Quay to change the use from offices to homes, in particular to convert the building into 56 self-contained flats. It is understood a more detailed application will be submitted later.

The application comes from North Quay Weymouth Limited, believed to be linked to Acorn South which purchased the site for £4.5 million.

The borough council sold the 45-year-old North Quay offices along with a planning application, approved last year for a housing scheme. That scheme envisaged the four-storey block being demolished and 72 Georgian-style homes built in its place, along with commercial space. It would link in with the old fire station development designed by the same team.

The new owners of the site do not have to proceed with that scheme, hence this application to do something completely different.

People have until November 14 to comment on the application.

The council sold the offices and downsized to smaller cheaper-to-run town centre premises in April to save money.

Its ambition is to see the North Quay site sympathetically developed to improve the harbour setting while also providing housing and subsequent economic benefits for the town.

Earlier this year, Cllr Ian Bruce said he understood developers' plans for the site have "a real wow factor".

He said: "Part of their probable design is to utilise the existing building as part of the development. It will be completely redesigned and certainly isn't going to look like what it is at the moment."

A document submitted with the change of use application says: “As part of the proposed development the internal space of the building will be upgraded to a modern standard and where possible, the existing plan form of the building will be utilised.”

It proposes a certain amount of works to upgrade the building including levelling the ground floor, upgrading windows, upgrading floors with sound and fire insulation, internal installation works to make the building more thermally efficient, putting in stud wall partitions to form self-contained residential units, installing modern kitchen and bathrooms, and connecting to electrical, water and sewerage facilities.

It says the units proposed will be a mix of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments. The development will also provide cycle spaces, 19 vehicle spaces and a fenced bin store. It is argued that 19 spaces are enough to meet the anticipated need, and there is a public car park nearby.