The demolition of a Dorchester office block to make way for housing has been met with a mixed response from neighbours.

The block is on a prominent site at the corner of Cornwall Road and Albert Road, opposite the Borough Gardens, and is currently used by a range of businesses including accountants and a care provider.

Plans have been submitted to replace the building, which has 27 car parking spaces, with four 4-bed townhouses and nine parking spaces on the 1,270 square metre site.

A planning agent for the developer says that the townhouses will sit roughly on the same footprint as the existing office block with trees on the site being preserved with additional planting and the two access routes remaining in use.

Dorset Echo:

Dorchester Town Council has welcomed the proposal as have several neighbours although one asks whether the design could also include green technology and provide more homes on the plot for smaller families, couples and singles who live locally.

Concerns have also been expressed about parking problems in the area which might be exacerbated by the new homes while the Dorset Council conservation officer has asked for a reduction in size to the top floor window, claiming the design, as proposed, appears out of keeping in the area.

DMW Architects, which has developed the plans, said elements on the new homes will mirror some of the features of nearby Edwardian houses with a similar height and brickwork detail.

Several other applications to convert business uses into homes have been approved in Dorchester in the past 12 months, including the nearby office block at Vespasian House in Bridport Road and several former offices in High West and High East Street.