Bad day at the office

Offices or a house . . . how the building looked in February

No takers for former workshop means worst fears could be confirmed for campaigners

A former engineer’s workshop will become a waterside detached house, just as angry campaigners predicted, if plans are approved on Wednesday.

The large executive building on Green Belt land in Greenfield is part of the Royal George Mills development.

It has been extensively refurbished and extended, and numbered “10 Gibbs Close” by the council.

Planning permission for the site was granted after a public inquiry. Part was to be used for business, the rest for homes.

But offices in the former engineer’s workshop have not attracted any tenants, the planning committee will hear, despite two marketing attempts.

Now, architects Hall Needham — acting for a “Mr P Scholes” have applied to change the offices to a detached house with minor amendments, including replacing a garage door with full height windows and grassing part of the car parking area.

In February, ward Councillor Richard Knowles and Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents’ Association both objected to the changing appearance of the offices, saying the warehouse has been demolished and its replacement was a new build on a bigger scale, being called a house by sales staff.

A local resident has also referred the case to the Local Government Ombudsman. But a report to councillors from the head of planning Geoff Willerton, says the isolation of the building deters potential office users.

He added: “The loss of this high-specification office accommodation is to be regretted.”

And he recommends allowing a change of use from offices to a house, with strict conditions, and the re-instatement of a low stone boundary wall.