A PLAN is being developed to demolish a huge Bournemouth office building and replace it with hundreds of homes and co-working space across three large towers.

Marchmont and Peveril Securities is working on “the Project” for the Holland House site at 20 Oxford Road in the Lansdowne area of town.

The firms have submitted a preliminary screening opinion to BCP Council ahead of formulating more detailed plans.

A statement submitted on their behalf by London-based HGH Consulting said the key elements of “the Project” are the demolition of the existing building and replacing it with up to 500 homes and up to 750 square metres of commercial co-working space.

Bournemouth Echo:

Three new buildings are currently planned ranging from 12 to 28 storeys in height. There would be disabled car parking and cycle parking as well as parking for servicing and deliveries and four car club spaces.

This car parking provision would be inline with BCP Council’s parking standards supplementary planning document, which sets out the requirements for new developments.

The statement from HGH said: “The Project will result in an introduction of a residential use to a site that has formerly provided some employment associated with office use.

“The provision of new housing to meet current demand, will have a positive social impact.

“There is, however, likely to be a subsequent increase in demand on social infrastructure such as local services, including GPs and schools. That said, Government data for the 2021 academic year identifies that 72 of 92 schools (80 per cent) within BCP Council have school capacity.

“It is therefore considered that the potential increased demand for school places from the Project is likely to be negligible.

“During construction the Project will have positive economic impacts due to the number of jobs supported and the indirect effects of that increase of employment.

“Overall, it is considered that there is likely to be a beneficial impact in terms of on-site employment in both the construction and operation phase, a positive impact on the housing market and local expenditure and a minimum impact on primary education and primary healthcare.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Holland House, which sits in Oxford Road between St Paul’s Lane and St Paul’s Place, is currently vacant with large hoardings in place restricting access to the site.

It was built in the mid-1980s as an eight-storey office block with a basement and around 112 car parking spaces on ground level.

The screening opinion is seeking confirmation from BCP Council as to whether an environmental impact assessment will be needed if a full planning application is brought forward.

The local authority has not responded to the applicants yet.

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