Museum Resource Centre in Colchester could become student flats

LPB Homes wants permission to turn the Museum Resource Centre, in Ryegate Road, Colchester, into a residential development featuring six self-contained apartments, two two-beds and four one-beds, and 23 House of Multiple Occupation bedrooms.

The homes will be split over five floors and student accommodation will be for a mix of group sizes.

The Museum Resource Centre is on Colchester Council’s local list of buildings of architectural and historic interest and is an undesignated heritage asset.

This means, although not suitable for designation nationally as a listed building, it is considered historically or architecturally important.

Part of the centre is Victorian and was used as a brewery before being bought by E N Mason and Son in 1921 as premises for the Arclight works.

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The building, on the outskirts of Castle Park, was used for storing some of Colchester’s historic artefacts but has fallen into disrepair.

The Museum Resource Centre, in Ryegate Road, Colchester

• The premises from the front

A planning report states: "A residential and student accommodation scheme is supportable under the terms of the council’s policies, plans and guidance’s.

"The proposed development makes the best use of the previously built land and is designed to respect and maintain all its heritage assets.

"The proposed external structural changes gives minimum amount of impact on the appearance causing no harm to neighbouring properties and retaining the character and the appearance of the surrounding area.

"The internal changes will maximise the layout and create modern, high-quality accommodation that will meet the rising demand for housing that can be seen locally and nationally.

"Providing two points of entrance to the building will allow the residential apartments and student accommodation to remain as two separate functions to the building.

"By offering two types of accommodation it will assist in providing different accommodation for a varying market."

It adds: "The redevelopment of 14 Ryegate Road, Colchester would result in an existing building with a strong frontage in the street scene to remain and be used as accommodation oppose to its current unused status."

The site is located less than half a mile away from Alumno's £40 million students flats development, which will see 336 new rooms for students built off Queen Street.

Plans to turn the Museum Resource Centre into nine apartments were approved in 2019.

Colchester Council will have the final say on the plans.