An office building in Nottingham could be demolished to make way for new apartments.
The office block on Clinton Terrace, Derby Road, sits on the outskirts of The Park estate, a conservation area.
Under the plans, tabled by Mr Paul Buckingham, the office block would be demolished to make way for a new five-storey building featuring 17 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments.
The property is attached to the western end of Clinton Terrace, a prominent four-storey Victorian terrace designed by the noted local architect T. C. Hine, one of the city’s most successful architects of the time.
Hine had particular responsibility for developing The Park into a residential estate in 1854.
Nottingham Civic Society has welcomed the plans, stating: “The design of the apartment building references some architectural features from nearby historic buildings.
“The existing building offers nothing to the character of the conservation area, and its replacement is to be welcomed.
“The building’s design and scale are generally appropriate to its conservation area setting and the scale of the neighbouring buildings.
“However, it is considered that, as the quality of the design will rest on the detailing of its elevations, particularly the achievement of good depth to fenestration and other embellishments, large-scale sections should be required to safeguard the details and the appearance generally.”
While the civic society approves of the scheme, some nearby residents said they were concerned about its use, noting that it had not ruled out student use and that seven parking spaces are “insufficient”.
Approval was given in 2022 for the change of use of the building to residential, but this expired last year.
In 2023, planning permission was granted for the demolition of the existing building on the site and the construction of a four-storey building featuring 15 flats.
While this permission remains in effect until November 2026, the developer has said it is no longer financially viable, and new, expanded plans have been submitted instead.
The new plans have been recommended for approval at a Nottingham City Council planning committee meeting on Wednesday (17 June) and will be considered by councillors because the developer says it cannot pay the financial contributions.
Councils typically grant planning permission to developers on the proviso that they contribute financially to affordable housing and to local education, employment and infrastructure.
These help reduce the impact of a scheme on local amenities, as housing schemes typically introduce more people into an area.
However, fewer and fewer developers are being required to provide money under these Section 106 agreements, with assessments ruling that their plans would be financially unfeasible if they were made to do so.
Councillors have been clashing with developers over the issue for a number of years, but council officers have said their hands are tied by Government legislation.
