PLANS to build more than 200 flats around the edge of a Bournemouth town centre car park will once again go before BCP Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

The application submitted by Summix RGB Developments Ltd and Sheet Anchor for the Richmond Gardens site was due to be considered by councillors earlier this year but was withdrawn.

Now, when the proposal for 211 flats and commercial space returns on Thursday, councillors will be asked to approve it.

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Planning permission has previously been granted for a scheme of more than 600 student flats around the edge of the Richmond Gardens car park after a successful appeal overturned the original refusal.

And in 2009, Bournemouth council approved a proposal to build 120 flats and a hotel on the site.

But in 2019 the developer submitted new plans, proposing 211 flats be built across four blocks.

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These would range in height from 15 storeys to 12 with commercial units proposed for the ground floor.

“The proposed redevelopment would regenerate the underused, highly sustainable site in central Bournemouth and deliver 211 high-quality homes for private rent, helping to meet an identified need in the town,” a spokesman for the developers said.

“The proposals would also deliver significant improvements to the public realm along Richmond Gardens, provide new opportunities for local businesses and encourage sustainable travel through the provision of 362 cycle spaces for residents and visitors.”

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The application will be considered by the planning committee because it is deemed to be a major proposal.

And, in a report published ahead of its Tuesday meeting, planning officer Tom Hubbard has recommended that councillors approve it.

“The proposed development will lead to a significant change to the character of Richmond Gardens, though change is not necessarily negative,” his report says.

“The change will be comparable to both the 2009 approved scheme, and particularly the student accommodation development recently allowed on appeal, in terms of the scale of development, massing, the spread of buildings across the frontage, and the building line of development.”

A final decision will be made at Thursday’s meeting.