Weymouth North Quay: New bid to demolish old council offices

North Quay offices have been targeted by vandals since its closure

New plans have been submitted to demolish a former council building that has been empty since 2016.

Dorset Council is spending about £110,000 a year maintaining the vacant offices at North Quay, Weymouth.

The block has already been the subject of a number of failed proposals, including a previous bid to knock it down, which was rejected in 2019.

The authority said the cleared land would be used as a car park until it was redeveloped.

In 2017, the £4.5m sale of the site to a developer fell through after the former Weymouth Borough Council refused permission to convert the harbourside block into flats.

'Fresh approach'

In 2019, the new Dorset Council applied to demolish it but permission was refused, partly due to planning guidance recommending older buildings are converted where possible for environmental reasons.

The authority said Levelling Up funding was being used for the work which signalled a "fresh approach" for North Quay.

Councillor Tony Ferrari said the local authority had carried out an "extensive exercise" to investigate the carbon impact of the site.

He said: "Because of the carbon efficiency of new-build properties, there is little difference in the carbon impact of demolishing the current building versus refurbishing it.

"The environmental benefit is that redevelopment will allow many more carbon efficient homes to be built on this brownfield site, avoiding the need to build homes on greenfield sites."

A consultation on the plans will open in due course.