New plans to redevelop former builders' merchant site in Dorchester
An application's gone in to transform the Maumbury Road site
New plans have been submitted to redevelop part of a former builders’ merchants in Dorchester – after a previous application for 16 flats was rejected.
The latest proposal for 4 Maumbury Road includes an extension to create ten managed workspace on the ground floor of the former warehouse building and four 2-bed serviced flats on the first floor.
The in-principal application comes from the previous applicants, Limon Homes Ltd, based in Luton.
The site was once part of the Gibbs and Dandy company which has been closed since September 2020.
The previous application for 16 flats won the support of Dorchester town councillors – which said there are other flats in the area and the changes might help mask the industrial-style Range unit behind the site.
But Dorset Council then rejected the scheme with the refusal then going to appeal, where it was dismissed.
The latest application says that the six parking spaces on the site would be retained – planning agents pointing out that there is a public car park directly opposite should more space be needed.
As part of the application, the agent said:
“Our new proposals are still to renovate and retain the existing buildings working with existing window openings and fenestrations. The main revisions will still be to the inside of the structures and to the rear of the building reconstructing the currently disused and derelict areas.
"Our proposals still include a partial demolition of the rear buildings in order to open up this section of the site into a communal amenity/ landscaped area directly behind the existing residential units 5-10 Maumbury Road.”
The application says the ten workspace units could be flexibly used, with some as offices, depending on demand when the site is ready for use.
The four flats are likely, if approved, to be offered for short-term letting.