Plans have been submitted for six new flats in Ipswich.
Ipswich Borough Council has received an application on behalf of Wilkinson Property Developments Ltd to convert the office building at 37 Berners Street into six apartments.
The Grade II listed building has previously been used by women’s aid charity Lighthouse.
The planning statement prepared by the developer said that the proposal is aligned with Ipswich Borough Council’s CS2 policy, which: “recognises that the regeneration and sustainable growth of Ipswich will be achieved by focusing new residential development towards the town centre.
“This includes optimising buildings which are currently underused or underutilised to create more vibrant communities.”
The statement continued: “The loss of employment generated by this proposal is acknowledged, however, the real extent of material public harm is limited at best given the longstanding underutilised nature of the building.
“There would be far more benefits by bringing high-quality residential units to the edge of the town centre.”
Ipswich Borough Council will make its decision in due course.
Documents relating to the application are available to view on Ipswich Borough Council’s website under references 22/00493/LBC and 22/00492/FUL.
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