Rooms empty for 15 years above Weymouth pub to become flats
They were last used as an office in the mid 2000's
Rooms above a Weymouth town centre pub are to be brought back into use – after lying empty for more than 15 years.
The application for eight flats above the Swan Inn in St Thomas Street, Weymouth has been approved by Dorset Council.
It will bring two floors of the building, which have not been used for years, back into use.
London-based Onewey Ltd has been given consent by to change the use of the first and second floors from offices to homes. It is believed the last office use was in the mid-2000s.
The planning consent includes alterations to the rear of the building, including replacement windows and swopping shingle tiles with flat aluminium panels.
The Swan Inn, a Wetherspoons pub, will continue to operate as normal with a separate entrance to the side of the building for the occupants of the flats.
Concerns over noise and food smells
The application has been re-worked since it was first suggested in November 2021 – after concerns about noise and smells from the pub affecting those living above the busy bar. New acoustic solutions have since been put forward to reduce noise levels from the bar and a new venting system suggested to deal with cooking smells.
Objections
Weymouth Town Council objected to the application claiming affordable housing should have been included in the scheme and were also unhappy about the lack of separate cycle storage. It had also expressed concerns about noise for the residents, although said it generally welcomed town centre upper floors being brought back into use for housing.
A Dorset Council report says the upper floors were once classed as being dilapidated with rain water saturating the first floor from a defective roof.
Too small for hotel
The report said that J D Wetherspoons decided not to invest in the first/second floor because the premises was too small to meet its hotel specifications and it did not want to take on the liability for the repairs.
With the pub chain deciding not to invest the current owners bought the freehold in June 2022 on the basis that only residential use would the only viable option for the two floors.
The proposed flats, six 2-bed and two 3-bed, will vary in size from 70 to 95 square metres, exceeding the minimum standards, with each said to have adequate storage space and natural light.
The site will not have any parking spaces, which the developers say is not necessary given the town centre location. Cycles will have to be stored within the flats which the council report says is acceptable given the limited space available.