DEVELOPERS bidding to turn a former Newton Abbot town centre bank into flats have revised their plans.

Proposals for the old Barclays Bank building in Courtenay Street were granted prior approval by planners last year.

But the initial scheme to convert the building, which benefitted from ‘permitted rights’ under the Town and Country Planning Order, now needs amending.

The latest revision is looking for approval to use more of the ground floor space for housing. This would increase the number of flats from 19 to 20.

Developers Newton Abbot Properties Ltd say since approval was granted to convert part of the ground, first, second and third floors to residential dwellings, a survey has revealed the size of the ground floor space was ‘smaller than anticipated’.

The latest revision to the scheme is looking to include the whole ground floor as a residential property.

The new application states: ‘The alteration has come about following a measured survey of the building, which resulted in a smaller than previously anticipated size.

‘This has resulted in a requirement to utilise the whole building to match the provision of the previously approved floorspace.

‘On this basis, the inclusion of the ground floor will result in a negligible increase in residential floorspace across the building when compared to the previous applications.’

The overall application is asking to build 20 new flats on the site.

On the ground floor, this would be four one bedroom properties, six flats on the first floor, six flats on the second floor and four on the third.

Barclays Bank operated on the site for more than 15 years before closing the branch in November 2021.