Weymouth nightclub withdraws plans to convert into flats
The venue in Maiden Street has been operated as a nightclub for 60 years
Plans to convert a Weymouth nightclub and bar into six homes have been withdrawn from the planning list.
The application, for Chic in Maiden Street, which has been a nightclub site for sixty years, had attracted objections from the town council and town’s Civic Society.
Both were concerned about the relatively small size of the proposed flats, five of them over two storeys and one three-storey.
A planning agent had told Dorset Council that the nightclub business was no longer financially viable after recent changes in the town’s night time economy.
Most of the alterations to the building, which wraps around into New Street, would have been internal with the outside remaining much as it now is, although with the addition of some new windows.
Said the agent, Nigel Trent: “The alterations will not have a negative impact on the character of the conservation area. Replacing the nightclub use with domestic use will have less of an impact on neighbours.”
Weymouth Town Council had told Dorset Council, which has the ultimate say on planning: “The Council objects on the grounds of over-density and small sizes, and the lack of ground floor storage for rubbish bins and bicycles. The Council would be able to support the application if the number of dwellings was reduced to 5, and there was a shared, ground floor secure storage area. It is acknowledged that for today’s living, the units may be acceptable for single-person living.”
Weymouth Civic Society welcomed the removal of signs and air ducts from the outside of the building under the homes proposal, but also called for fewer units with a more spacious layout and room for bicycle, buggy and bin storage.
No reason has been given for the plans being withdrawn, but for applications which attract concerns, withdrawing proposals and then re-working designs, before re-submitting is a typical course of action.
The club has suffered well documented problems, being shut down in December 2021 after police concerns about drug dealing while the owner was away.
It was later allowed to reopen, re-named as the Chic Bar and Club, but with reduced hours and increased security.
Owner Mr Parviz Panjalizadeh-Marseh a year ago persuaded a Dorset Council licensing panel to extend his hours, claiming that with the new security measures, his premises was the safest in town.