PROPOSALS to build a five-storey apartment complex at the former Lloyds Bank site opposite Poole Civic Centre have been agreed by council planning chiefs.

Chessland Estates wants to demolish the existing buildings at 1-3 Commercial Road, and build 50 new residential units and retail space.

Developers will remove the buildings onsite – a car showroom, a maintenance workshop, and the majority of the Lloyds building – while retaining the facade of the listed bank.

Explaining the decision to green light the proposals, Cllr Peter Pawlowski, Borough of Poole (BOP) planning committee chairman, said: “The committee welcomed the incorporation of the listed building façade into the scheme and the provision of much needed new homes in such a sustainable location.

“The site is convenient to the town centre, transport links and is well served with leisure and amenity facilities.”

Poole councillor Ann Stribley had flagged the proposals up to the committee, and asked for them to be debated, after receiving objections from worried neighbours.

Around a dozen residents wrote to the council to state their objections to the scheme.

One of the objectors, chartered town planner Jean Marshall – who lives at nearby North Road with her family – said: “I accept that this is a site suitable for some form of redevelopment and that residential is probably a suitable use.

“But the scale of the development is too high, leading to a cramped form of development with inadequate parking and servicing, and in a form that distracts from the heritage assets of the vicinity.”

The recommendation to the committee from BOP’s planning department was to grant permission.

The finished building will be between three and five-storeys high, with two retail units on the ground floor.

Plans show parking provision on site for up to 29 cars.