PLANS to turn a listed High Street building into flats have resurfaced.

Ian Abrams Architects has revealed the plans for the Grade II listed offices opposite the Blue Boar pub, in Billericay, to be turned into three flats with car parking.

In the application to Basildon Council the firm wrote that the building has been “increasingly disused” and that “the absence of suitable tenants has led to its decline.”

Lucy Carpenter, a planning consultant working with the architect, wrote: “Residential is the most viable and optimal use, ensuring the longevity of the building in the long-term.

“This will involve some internal and external alterations, but no demolition or extensions.”

In 2014 planning permission was refused for the part demolition and part refurbishment and extension of the existing buildings and the creation of a terrace of two and three-storey buildings in Sheradays Yard, which runs behind the main High Street building.

This decision was not appealed against, and the developer has since held meetings with both conservation officers and planning officers as it draws up a new version for the new project.

Further plans for flats and changes to buildings in Sheradays submitted in 2016 were also subsequently refused by Basildon Council.

A final decision on the fresh set of proposals for the Billericay site will be made by Basildon Council’s planning committee later on this year.

For more information, visit planning.basildon.gov.uk/online-applications and search using the reference “17/00650/FULL.”