DEVELOPERS are taking advantage of the system to build more homes by the back door, councillors claim.

It came as parish councillors discussed the latest effort to convert the former Swindon Advertiser offices in Old Town into 31 flats.

Coun Nick Burns-Howell told a meeting of South Swindon Parish Council’s planning committee: “It seems that developers within Swindon are treating the planning process with contempt. The planning process is not there to protect developers and their interests. It is there to ensure that residents and the local community can have a fair say in development.”

Blewbury Court notified the borough council in March that they intended to exercise permitted development rights to change the use of the former Adver offices into flats. Permitted development rights effectively allows a development to sidestep the usual planning process, being approved as long as certain criteria are met.

An application to change the windows and cladding at the back of the building overlooking Albert Street was granted in April. Developers said the changes were intended to “improve the desirability of the commercial space for future rental purposes”.

Residents and local businesses have already criticised Blewbury Court’s flats bid. David Buckingham, owner of Albert Street pub the Roaring Donkey, said he feared that no noise assessment had been completed by the developers as part of their application.

In an email shared with South Swindon Parish Council, planning officer Ian Halsall said of Blewbury Court’s change of use application: “They have gone about this a little via the back door in that they obtained planning permission to make alterations which in their own right were acceptable in design terms but would in due course enable the conversion to flats were an application for prior approval submitted.”

Parish councillors expressed outrage. Coun Burns-Howell said: “I remember the conversation at the planning committee when we discussed the planning application for the back of the building. We said at the time I’m sure that we didn’t want this converted into flats. It was raised as a concern. But it’s clearly said within that application that they were retaining it as the same use as an office block.

“If we’ve got someone from the borough council saying this is a little by the back door I think we need to throw that open, bring this into a public arena and make sure the public have a proper say on the future of this building within the Old Town area. We need to safeguard the integrity of our planning process.”

Coun Nadine Watts added: “It all comes down to openness and transparency. We shouldn’t let developers keep pushing the residents around.”

Edd Johnson of Blewbury Court said: "We seek to positively engage with the local businesses. It's no secret we are going for a residential development. We're open and transparent. We wish to be sympathetic towards the locality, in the physical appearance of the building."

He said the homes would be of an "incredibly high quality in arguably the best area of Swindon."