PLANS to transform a former school into an arts centre and family homes have been approved despite residents’ fears they will create a “ghetto” in Boscombe.

Civic chiefs met yesterday morning to resolve the long debate over the future of the Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts (BCCA) site, in Haviland Road.

But the cabinet dismissed fears that construction of 14 affordable family homes and an arts and culture hub in two listed classrooms on the site would lead to the creation of an enclave. Instead, it insisted the introduction of families would increase a sense of community in the area and contribute to its regeneration. Representing local residents at the cabinet meeting Sara Hayes, who has lived in Haviland Road for 26 years, said: “I’m absolutely horrified, shocked and angry at the prospect of 14 houses being built on the site.

“None of us can understand how they can all fit on the site, it’s not a big site. It will become another enclave and turn into a ghetto.”

Council leader Cllr Peter Charon recognised that there is a disproportionate amount of rented accommodation in the west of Boscombe and insisted safeguards would be employed to prevent future owners transforming the new homes into multiple rented bedsits.

Earlier a deputation from the Friends of BCCA, who have campaigned for years to transform the site into a community centre, had asked the cabinet to reconsider the plans to reduce the communal space available for people from 20 rooms to just two.

Representing the group Linda Ni’Man claimed that with sufficient space an arts and culture hub at the site could help “reinstate visible signs of community,” as well as providing a catalyst for regenerating the area. She explained that the BCCA could become a flagship for creative industries.