The conversion of town centre offices into flats has been going on for a while, but is becoming more and more common. The Solicitor’s Office in West St Helen Street are advertised as being ‘To Let’, or having been Let. So their conversion is nearly complete.

While the conversion of Publishing House, at the bottom of the Vineyard, is just beginning. There is agreement to turn the offices to flats. Work has already started, before the detailed plans are approved by the VWHDC (Vale of White Horse District Council). Details still to be approved include adding balconies to the first and second floor windows, and creating a small amount of amenity space to the rear for bins and cycles.

P.S. The Abingdon Blog reported in November 2014 that exploratory work was underway by Oxfordshire County Council to allow work to progress on reinforcing the River Stert in February / March 2015. The barriers are still there, and we are at the end of May.

Next to the Wootton Road shops there is a new development of 8 apartments. (see Hester’s comment 1 for correction about what it replaced.)

Work on the Abingdon School Science Centre continues.

Much of the scaffolding has been removed from the new care apartments on Ock Street that replace Mayott House. The roof is on, and most of the windows are in.

Regarding the Old Gaol it is difficult to tell how things are progressing. It is the 40th anniversary of the Old Gaol opening as a leisure centre, and Abingdon Music Centre.

The Vale of White Horse Planning Committee voted by seven votes to five, with one abstention, to allow 158 dwellings on the field next to the Drayton Road – on the other side of those Lime Trees. 10 of the Lime Trees will be cut down to make an entrance onto the Drayton Road.

The committee were deciding on Taylor Wimpey’s modified housing plan. Taylor Wimpey had brought the land from a previous developer with a plan for 159 dwellings, but wanted to use their own style of housing. That original plan was turned down by the Vale of White Horse Planning Chairman, without even going to committee – among other factors, because of South Abingdon’s traffic problems. But that plan was allowed on appeal by a planning inspector. This time the modified plan did go to the committee, and that same chairman voted for the modified plan, and Council officers kept saying it would be very cavalier of councillors to go against officer advice, and face significant costs if they lost a second time on appeal.

A number of local councillors had spoken against the scheme before it was discussed by the committee, and three local residents were allowed just 3 minutes between them to present the views of residents. When the clock stopped for Anthea to take over there were just 33 seconds remaining. She wanted to speak on the environmental issues of the development. She put the case that the developer’s studies had failed to reveal the bats and other wildlife. She did not have time for her conclusion, which was “One has to conclude that if the developer’s evidence is inaccurate, here, then surely other aspects are also inaccurate.”

After the vote, the debate ended in shambles as some Councillors thought there was still time to include a condition about measuring the effect of the traffic mitigation scheme (those pedestrian lights on Marcham Road) before houses were built That was ruled out of order. It should have been proposed properly and voted on before going to the final vote.

Publishing House, at the bottom of The Vineyard, has gained prior approval to change from offices to residential use, and has now been sold.

It was vacated by Connexions, the agency charged with helping to find young people work, in August 2011, and there has been a To Let sign / For Sale sign outside since.