Plans to turn a set of Frome offices which have never been used into three new homes have been given the green light.

Planning permission for the office block on Victoria Road was approved in February 2020, as part of a bigger application to build seven houses and an employment site.

However, with the office block still having received no takers since being built, D J Kelly Homes Ltd has now been given permission to repurpose the building.

This is the second application to change the use of the premises, following an unsuccessful attempt in 2022.

"The commercial unit had been completed prior to occupation of residential units and has been extensively marketed as office premises since January 2021," the application said. 

"In 2022, the applicant was approached by a dance studio looking for premises, however accepting them as a tenant would have contravened the terms of Conditions 3 and 4 of the above permission."

It added: "Since the refusal of the [previous] application the property remained on the market however very little interest has been expressed by commercial buyers or tenants. 

"At the same time, sales of residential properties marketed by the same agent have been negatively affected by the presence of the vacant commercial element within the development and the uncertainty of what business may occupy this building."

A flurry of objections had been levelled against the development, with Frome Town Council saying the marketing of the offices had "not been carried out thoroughly".

But council planners said the scheme should be given the green light.

Approving the application, a council report said: "The benefits of the proposal would include contributing three new dwellings (flats), in a sustainable location which would make some contribution to assisting the council's shortage of housing land within the district as a whole.

"Further, the proposal would have economic benefits thereafter for local facilities and services which are accessible from the site.

See the full application here.