Weymouth North Quay: Another new plan for old council office block

The proposed plan on the North Quay site features 72 homes overlooking the marina

An ex-council office building that has "languished" empty since 2016 - costing £100,000 a year to maintain - could finally be knocked down for housing.

Dorset Council wants to build 72 new homes at the site of the old North Quay block and put up 59 flats on a former bowling alley in Weymouth harbour.

The North Quay site has had a chequered history, with a number of failed proposals.

People have until the end of February to share their views on the proposals.

Dorset Council owns the office site and said it had plans to purchase the long leasehold from the existing tenant of the MFA Bowl building, which closed in April 2019.

The North Quay offices are costing £100,000 a year, including business rates, security, repairs and utility bills, Dorset Council previously said

The former bowling alley would be knocked down under the plans and 59 flats built

Councillor Tony Ferrari, who is overseeing the plans, said: "The most important thing about these sites is that something is done with them. They have languished for too long.

"No scheme will ever satisfy everyone but the broader support the schemes have the more likely we are to be able to take these wasted sites and bring them back into use, contributing to a better future for Weymouth."

The council said a consultation on the proposals would come at a later date with a planning application for the project expected to be submitted by early summer.

An artist's impression of how the new development on the bowling alley site in St Nicholas Street could look