Planning permission granted for 20 new flats to replace office block in Northamptonshire town

A new three-story block of flats, which will see the demolition of an existing office block in a Northamptonshire town, has been granted planning permission.

Burcote House in Burcote Road, Towcester will be demolished and a block of 20 flats will replace the current building, subject to completed legal agreements.

Grand Union Housing group - which currently occupies the offices - submitted a planning application to build 19 two-bedroom flats and one one-bedroom flat in March 2020.

The decision to grant planning permission was made by South Northamptonshire planning committee on March 31 - the last day it operated under that name before the county’s two new unitary authorities came into force.

Of the 20 flats, which are set to have a ‘flexible open plan living, kitchen/dinning area’, eight will be available at market rent and 12 will be available as shared ownership.

In the design and access statement, the applicant stated: “The existing building is a two storey building with no architectural merit.

“The existing building has a materiality of red brick and a metal roof with yellow rainwater goods.

“The design intent is to provide a high quality building consisting of red brick with brick detailing and banding that compliments the existing site and its location.

“The proposed apartment block will have grey aluminium windows and doors to provide a contemporary look to the proposed building.

“All properties have access to the communal amenity space within the landscaped grounds and most apartments have private balconies.

“The proposal will provide much needed housing to the district and town.”

The block of flats will have 40 car parking spaces, based on two per dwelling, as well as four electric vehicle spaces and brick bin and cycle stores to ‘fit with the aesthetic’.

Close to the newly approved flats, there is also a large housing development currently underway.

The design and access statement adds: “There is a housing development currently being constructed to the east of the site by Bellway Homes, which will share the access route of which the site is accessed from.

“There will be a 1.8m high brick wall between the proposed apartment block and the adjacent Bellway site.”

As agreed in the planning permission, demolition of the office block and construction of the new flats will only be allowed to take place between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am and 1pm on Saturday and not at all on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

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