WORK has begun on nearly 50 new family homes in Bournemouth town centre.

The flats, which range from one-bed to three-bed, are being built on the site of an underused car park on St Stephen’s Road.

A turf cutting ceremony was held to mark the start of construction for the £12m project, which is due to be completed by the end of 2020.

The St Stephen’s site has been earmarked for residential use in Bournemouth council’s Area Action Plan for several years and is the latest development from Bournemouth Development Company, the 50/50 partnership between Bournemouth council and Morgan Sindall Investments Limited.

The 46 homes will be split into 28 and 18 flats across two multi-storey blocks, both of which have been designed to combine traditional external materials, such as brick, with contemporary architecture, to complement the neighbouring St Stephen’s Church. The mature trees along the boundary of the site will be retained to act as a natural buffer between the apartment blocks and neighbouring properties.

Cllr John Beesley, leader of Bournemouth council, said: “We are very pleased to begin work on this exciting project, which will deliver much-needed new homes in the town centre.

“I look forward to seeing the underused St Stephen’s site transformed into well-designed modern homes over the next few years. Following the completion of the Berry Court residential scheme in the summer, this is yet another example of our long-term vision to help transform the town centre into a truly mixed-use environment where people live, work and spend their spare time.’’

Duncan Johnston, director of Bournemouth Development Company, said: “It’s great to reach this milestone on the St Stephen’s project, delivering new homes for families in a convenient and leafy town centre location.

“We are delighted to take another step towards regenerating the town centre and delivering much needed funds back to the council for future rejuvenation.”

The construction will be carried out by Parsons and Joyce, a local contractor.

Once completed, there will be 36 parking spaces for residents and visitors, including two disability spaces, one motorcycle space and 52 bike spaces.

According to the council, the site has previously been used as staff parking for council employees during weekday office hours, and the council has introduced a new ‘Green Travel Plan’ for those employees. At weekends and on weekday evenings, it has operated as a public pay and display, but has been ‘underused’ by the public in recent years.