Holiday flats plan backed

A plan to convert former city centre offices into new flats has been backed by the council.

The application asked for permission to convert the upper floors of 59 and 60 Foregate Street in Worcester into seven short-stay apartments with the ground floor, previously home to Andrew Grant solicitors, remaining as office space.

The ‘short-stay’ apartments would be made available for up to a month at a time with no returns allowed within six months.

A new plan for the grade II-listed building in Foregate Street was put forward almost nine months ago with an original intention to convert the upper floors into apartments.

“The proposed use will contribute to the vitality and viability of the city centre, by enabling visitors to stay within the city centre, and will ensure that the whole of the building is brought back into use,” a report by planning officers said.

“On this basis, it is considered that the proposed short-term let/holiday accommodation use is acceptable in principle.”

Several applications to convert buildings in Foregate Street into new flats have been put forward in the last 12 months.

Last year, the city council approved a plan to convert nearby Victoria House, on the corner of Foregate Street and Shaw Street, into new flats.

The upper floors of the grade II-listed building had been empty for several years and had fallen into a state of disrepair.

A separate plan to convert the upper floors of a neighbouring building, currently home to Workforce Staffing and Recruitment, into new flats was first revealed almost a year ago before being scrapped last week.

Much is planned for the area around Foregate Street with long-term plans to restore a historic link to the riverside from the railway station finally given the seal approval by councillors last week.

The work will open up a new route to the city’s multi-million-pound railway arches which have been restored and reopened as creative hubs in the last few years.

The former Jaqk’s takeaway in Foregate Street will now be flattened to make way for a new entrance and walking and cycling path towards the River Severn.

The building was bought by the city council to demolish it and link the city’s main Worcester Foregate Street station with the new multi-million-pound redeveloped Arches, the Hive and the River Severn.