WEYMOUTH Town Council has welcomed plans to knock down a former church and build 18 affordable flats in its place.

Plans have been submitted by Hector Benjamin Ltd to demolish St Nicholas Church on Buxton Road and build flats with amenity space and parking spaces.

The plans went before Weymouth Town Council’s planning committee on Wednesday so members could comment on the scheme.

They were unanimous in their support.

Cllr Michael Frost said he had spoken with residents about the planned development who had highlighted some concerns.

He said: “They have expressed concerns that immediately to the left of St Nicholas Church entrance is a bus stop and immediately to the right is a pelican crossing used by children going to and from Holy Trinity School and elderly people going to and from the surgery.”

He said residents felt 18 flats with parking spaces would be ‘too much’.

He added: “They don’t object to it in principle, but the size of it – they feel it could be scaled back.”

According to the developers vehicle access will be largely unchanged, using the existing access onto Buxton Road.

Cllr Jon Orrell said: “It’s 100 per cent affordable, social housing, so this is exactly what we need.”

Cllr Lucy Hamilton, chairman of the planning committee, said: “The proposal is for the demolition of the existing building to be replaced with a new four-storey building, comprising of 18 two-bedroom flats with associated amenity space and parking space.”

She continued: “I think we welcome this particularly because it’s affordable housing.

“We note the scale maybe comparable to the Bathstore but it does look a bit bigger.

“We note residents' concerns about highway safety and the pedestrian crossing and bus stop.”

However, she said: “These do look like really wonderful homes, it’s a really nice modern development.

“I think we welcome this particularly because it’s for affordable homes.”

The decision to close St Nicholas Church was made in 2018 and the congregation moved to Gracewell care home.

The church was first opened in 1964 by the Bishop of Salisbury and was part of the Church of England parish of Holy Trinity.

A decision on the plans for the site will got Dorset Council for a final say.

If the decision by Weymouth Town Council goes against the recommendation of Dorset Council’s planning officers, it is more likely to go before the committee for decision.