Cheltenham planners have finally approved a controversial bid for 215 new homes on land within the Lansdown Industrial Estate, close to Cheltenham Spa station.

The project, to be carried out by developer Cheshire West And Chester Council, will see new use for the home of part of Cheltenham's industrial heritage after Cheltenham Borough Council's full planning committee approved the scheme at its last full meeting.

As part of the work reported last week by Punchline-Gloucester.com, the former home of H H Martyn and Co will be demolished as part of clearance for 215 domestic units while a new art studio will be created with a mixed-use redevelopment of units 23 and 30, which border Roman Road.

The HH Martyn and Co workshop famously produced the Marble Arch gates, as well as propellors for the WW2 Spitfire fighter aircraft.

Planning officer Lucy White recommended permission for the project in a report to the committee, while a redacted valuation report suggested that balancing the books on the project will hinge upon the amount of affordable houses that are offered.

Mapping out the reasons for calling in the application, Mr White said: "The reasons for the referral are the level of public interest arising from the application, conflict with development plan policy, loss of historic industrial buildings and potential impact on heritage assets, loss/displacement of the Lansdown Artists' studios and the scale and significance of the proposals."

Developers Cheshire West and Chester Council aim is to demolish existing buildings and revitalise the northern half of the industrial estate, which is one of four sites originally identified by the Borough in accordance with its Cheltenham Plan. The proposed section for homebuilding would amount to 6.9 acres of the site, which measures more than 13 acres in total.

A Valuation Office Agency report drawing on professional perspective from Bruton Knowlessiggested the finalised homes would have a market price of £67.6m in December 2022, although the figure was set at £59.7m twelve months later when factoring in 50 on-site affordable housing units. Base contruction cost for the project were set at £29m.

Planners received 49 objections against the bid, with much concern focusing on concerns raised by Cheltenham Civic Society, which said the "unimaginative" scheme was "dominated by car parking provision and a sea of 2m timber fences between gardens".

Speaking for the developer, Simon Firkins, told the committee: "The existing buildings, as our surveyor put it, are essentially shot to the extent that some of them had to be demolished years ago... The issue as I see it is that whatever heritage value the buildings may have had in the past don't exist anymore."

Despite approval, the application saw division among councillors, with Cllrs Cllr Bernie Fisher (Lib Dem, Swindon Village) and Emma Nelson (Con, Leckhampton) backing the bid, although Councillor David Willingham (Lib Dem, St Mark's and St Peter's), reiterated concern over the traffic implications for Rowanfield Road.

He warned: "You are putting more residential frontage on this road and you are therefore increasing the risk of a collision between a rat-running vehicle with a pedestrian or someone coming out of their driveway onto the road."