PLANS to create 28 flats by adding a two-storey roof extension to a building in Westlea have been submitted.

Permission has already been granted for the offices in Minerva House on Welton Road to be turned into residences.

But the new application adds a further 14 flats and 19 new parking spaces to an already-approved application for 14 flats.

In addition to the 28 flats, the scheme includes designs for car and cycle parking and associated works.

The development site is part of a business park and would include 14 one-bedroom flats, 12 two-bedroom flats and two studios.

The two-floor extension's roof will replicate the shape of the previously-approved second-floor scheme with the addition of individual balconies for each of the flats.

West Swindon Parish Council has responded to the plans positively but expressed some concerns about insufficient parking for the flats’ new residents.

It said: “ The parish council would ask planning to secure a form of legally-binding agreement that the developer contributes funding towards the cost of creating or improving additional estate parking."

According to Swindon Borough Council’s highways department, there are already several flats in Minerva House.

In a comment, it notes that “in combination with the earlier permissions there would be a total of 69 flats on the site, with 101 car parking and 70 cycle parking spaces.”