PLANS to demolish a former cadet hall in Wimborne to make way for offices have been refused due to the “unsubstantiated” loss of a community building.
Applicant Jade Aden Interiors submitted plans to tear down the vacant cadet hut on 8 Blind Lane in favour of a new office building that would provide a base for a local employer, the plans said.
Previous plans to convert the building into an office suite were declared invalid, and new plans to give it a new lease of life were then submitted.
But Dorset Council eventually refused the plans on grounds that the application fails to demonstrate if there is insufficient demand for a community facility and that it is not feasible and viable to support its continued existence.
The building was first erected by the army as a purpose-built rifle range and training facility for reservists and cadets in 1950.
More recently, it has been used solely by the Dorset Army Cadet Force, before cadets moved to a building at 156 Leigh Road.
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The applicant claimed that as no public access was granted to the site in that time, the building does not constitute a community facility.
They said the premises was deemed surplus to requirements to the Ministry of Defence and was offered up for sale.
“The premises did not provide a service or a facility to the community and so there is no loss of or substantial decline in the range and quality of facilities and services for local people,” the plans said.
The planning officer however, said that when there is the potential for community facilities to be lost then it must be demonstrated that there is insufficient demand, and the loss would not result in a substantial decline in the range and quality of facilities and services for local people.
“It is acknowledged that the specific use that operated out of the building previously has moved elsewhere in Wimborne and therefore this use still continues within the town, however the use of the building has not been changed,” the report said.
“It has not been evidenced that the building was marketed as a community facility when it was put up for sale and therefore the council cannot be satisfied that it has been demonstrated that subsection i) of policy LN7 has been complied with.
“It is therefore judged that the loss of the community building would be harmful to the local community.”
To view the decision notice in full, visit the planning section of Dorset Council’s website and search reference P/FUL/2025/03653.
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This is the first time that I have heard that the facility might have been available and I can think of two community groups that are looking for a home off the top of my head.