COUNCILLORS discussed plans that are under consideration regarding the former NatWest Bank building on Holywell High Street becoming converted into a number of residential units.

At the monthly meeting, town council members passed comments about change of use plans to adapt the listed building from bank premises to a total of six self-contained apartments on the town’s high street.

The apartments are set to be a mixture of one and two-bedroom properties over the three-storey building in a prominent corner position of Holywell High Street.

Cllr Ted Palmer, representing Central Holywell, said that while there were no obvious concerns on a planning basis, he worried about losing ‘valuable retail space’ in the town’s main shopping street.

He said: “I do not want Holywell to set a precedence that will lose our valuable retail spaces through these change of use applications. A lot of our existing units on the high street are small anyway and it would be a great shame to lose out on potential businesses setting up in the town.”

The bank closed its doors in May 2017 because the company claimed an increasing number of customers were turning to more convenient internet and telephone banking methods.

It has remained vacant ever since.

Cllr Michael Brooke, who also represents Central Holywell, added his concerns to the discussion about the future of other units on the town’s high street.

He said: “We, as a council, need to be mindful that we do not end up in a situation where anyone who buys premises on the high street could bid for this kind of planning permission if it is handed out on this occasion.”

Cllr Rosetta Dolphin, the town mayor, stressed that any concerns the council has the power to raise as an objection would need to be based on legitimate planning issues, such as the parking concerns, but noted Cllr Brooke’s concern for the future of other high street units.

Greenfield councillor, George Scragg, said that the limited parking in the areas surrounding the high street, including the shared car park by Tesco and the town council offices may be taken advantage of if these plans were to go ahead.

With regards to this issue, the design and access statement on Flintshire County Council’s website reads: “The proposal will not generate significant additional volumes of vehicular traffic as the location of the site is extremely sustainable. The central location of the site within Holywell town centre is within easy walking distance of public transport routes.

“The main Holywell bus terminus and focus of local bus routes lies approximately 100 metres from the site to the east at Victoria Place. As the application site lies within the commercial centre of Holywell most shops and facilities are within easy walking reach of the future apartments.

“Car ownership for future apartment occupiers is likely to be below average as the accommodation is suitable for young individuals/families. Future residents will be able to take full advantage of existing comprehensive public transport facilities.

“The available offsite parking and proposed on-site servicing arrangements within the site will prove to be adequate for residents of this number of single and two-bedroom apartments.”