A FORMER language school in Dorchester Road, Weymouth has been given approval for conversion to a youth and community centre – long after it happened.

The retrospective application for St Johns Vicarage at 2 Dorchester Road also included consent for internal alterations to the building, including the fitting of a disabled toilet. It has been submitted by the parochial church council for the parish of Radipole and Melcombe Regis.

The application said the building, which is grade 2 listed, had been used for almost 40 years as a language school, being returned to the church in 2018 and shortly after that run as a youth and community centre.

There had been no objections to the application from Weymouth town council or any other formal consultees and no public objections to the change.

A planning officer report on the application said that the change from a language school to a youth and community centre was simply substituting one community use for another and involved no changes the external appearance of the listed building.