A DEVELOPMENT of 10 houses will be built behind a social club in Poole.

Poole council has approved Holton Homes’ plans for the three-bedroom homes on the site of Hamworthy Liberal Club in Blandford Road.

A building used by the club for storage will be demolished, along with part of the rear portion of the club building, to make way for the scheme.

The club’s trustees objected to the developer’s previous proposals, which would have seen a larger part of the building knocked down.

The revised plans will see more of the building spared, however there will be less car parking spaces for club members.

The ten homes to be built include a pair of semi-detached houses and two rows of four terraced houses.

Each house will have three bedrooms, a lounge and kitchen, and private rear garden.

There will be 19 parking spaces for residents, and 15 for club members when the development is built.

Borough of Poole planning officer James Gilfillan said the design of the houses would “enhance the character and appearance of the site”.

“The scheme has economic, environmental and social benefits, offering family housing in a local centre in the urban area, making efficient use of brownfield land, enhancing biodiversity and landscape, preserving the community use and residential amenity,” he said.

The plans were supported by the Society for Poole who praised the “respect apparently being given to the potential future of the club building and its site.”

The Royal British Legion Club, which has been vacant for several years, occupies the adjoining site. A planning application to demolish the building to make way for a housing scheme is currently being considered by council planners.

The plans for nine two-bedroom terraced houses have been submitted by Carlton Developments (Poole) several months after it gained planning permission to build eight houses on the site.

Unlike the plans for Hamworthy Liberal Club, which received no objections, there has been opposition to the Legion club scheme, with both Hamside Residents’ Association and the Poole Quays Forum (PQF) expressing concerns.