The prospect of noise from nearby industrial units has prevented the immediate conversion of a block of offices into flats.

The Foundation For Liver Research at The Roger Williams Institute Of Hepatology, based in London, had applied for Prior Approval for the conversion of  Unit 9 Lancaster Place in the South Marston industrial estate from offices into 26 apartments.

The block of offices sits in a development of commercial buildings, around an open green space but the whole site is surrounded by much larger industrial buildings and warehouses.

The institute would plan to convert the two-storey building into 20 one-bedroom flats and six studio arrangements.

Its application said: “The current office benefits from large windows distributed across each floor. Therefore, the proposed development would benefit from good provisions of daylight and sunlight in the dwellings.

“Each of the 26 dwellings would have windows and the dwellings have been designed to maximise the provision of natural light into the living areas.”

No external alterations to the building are proposed in the plans.

(Image: The Foundation For Liver Research at The Roger Williams Institute Of Hepatology)

But other occupiers of the industrial and commercial estate were against the plan.

One wrote to council planners: “Lancaster Place should retain its existing status as a high-class business park – the proposed change of use would run contrary to this vision.”

Another said: “The proposed residential properties would not be in keeping with the character and  it would result in an eyesore.”

Another said the change of use would cause a nuisance for other offices and businesses nearby, and another said it was an unsuitable location for flats as: “There are no daily amenities in the surrounding industrial estate, such as food stores, leisure facilities or medical facilities.”

Security issues for the surrounding businesses were also raised after some had suffered break-ins and burglaries recently.

But it was the impact on the possible future residents of the proposed flats from the surrounding business premises which led planners to refuse the application for approval.

The planners’ report said: “It has not been demonstrated that adjacent industrial units would not have an adverse noise impact that would be harmful to the amenity of the occupiers of the proposed residential development.

It has also not been established whether design mitigation would be able to satisfactorily overcome any identified noise impact on the proposed residential development.”

The refusal of Prior Approval does not necessarily mean a full application for planning consent would not be successful.