A LARGER office block is to replace a 1950s building on Sandbanks Road –  also resulting in changes to an existing footpath running alongside the building.

Ward councillor Steve Baron said there had been concern from some residents in the area about the larger building.

He called for the BCP planning committee to ignore the support for the scheme from Cllr Ann Stribley, claiming that she was influenced by personally parking there, the site currently being used by the Poole Conservative Association.

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But Cllr Stribley said it had been ruled she had no reason to declare an interest and said Cllr Baron’s remarks were both “unnecessary and out of order.”

She said that the Conservative Association had already agreed to move from the site after being there for about 20 years, and was only waiting for the legal agreements to be concluded before doing so.

Cllr Stribley said that the proposed building, although taller, was a “like for like” use and would improve the site access, moving the Sandbanks Road parking to the rear and with bollards separating cars from pedestrians which used the shared route alongside the building to get to and from Orchard Close.

She said that some of the representations from residents had now been withdrawn after they realised that the office use would result in less disturbance than if the site was used for a block of flats, which was the likely alternative.

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The committee heard that the current 1950s two storey flat roofed building with tandem parking at the front would be replaced by a three storey building, although with the top storey set-back from the road.

The front parking, onto Sandbanks Road, would be removed with 12 parking spaces provided at the rear of the site together with cycle parking. Pedestrian access would remain along the side of the new building although separated from cars by a line of bollards.

The builder’s yard at the rear of the current layout would be removed with the site owners claiming the larger offices could increase employment from 21 to 28 positions.

Cllr Baron said the access alongside the building, Footpath 40, had always been known locally as Wilson’s Path and he worried whether the bollards would be effective in separating cars from pedestrians.

He said he was also concerned about the size of the new building, a view which many residents had contacted him about.

Cllr Tony O’Neill, who proposed accepting the development, said the new building would only be slightly taller than one adjacent to it and the same height as one to the rear.

“The side access road is a shared access road and to my knowledge there has never been an accident. The bollards are an improvement and if people can’t work out that’s it is a footpath there’s not much we can do about it,” he said.