Ruth BradleyPolitics reporter, BBC Somerset
LDRSA planning application has been submitted to turn a building which used to be part of a council’s headquarters into accommodation for key workers.
Somerset Council sold C Block of County Hall in Taunton earlier this year for £1.7m. It said it was no longer required and the proceeds would go towards reducing its £66m budget deficit.
It was purchased by specialist developer Prime Plc, which previously built flats for hospital staff in Yeovil.
The firm wants to create 82 flats inside the former office block and people have until Friday to comment on the plans.
If approved, 80 one-bedroom furnished flats and studios will be created as well as a couple of two-bedroom flats.
The development would have 10 car parking spaces and 84 bicycle spaces. An allocated member of staff will oversee the facility.
AHR ArchitectsThe flats would be operated by Hyve, a not-for-profit provider of key worker housing owned by Prime Plc. Hyve operates a similar development near Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.
First refusal for the properties will be given to local NHS staff. The firm said it was working with the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove Park Hospital, to see how it could meet local need.
The hospital is less than one mile (1.6km) from the site.
In its proposals, the developer said that under national affordability criteria the cost of renting a one-bedroom property in Somerset would exceed 30% of gross income for most local NHS workers.
It said furnished flats in the area were even more expensive and therefore even less affordable to key workers.
