Great Suffolk Street warehouse: plans for flats approved

The building at 55 Great Suffolk Street is grade II listed and has been on Historic England's heritage at risk register since 2004.

The warehouse dates from the 1850s or 1860s and has been largely disused since the 1980s. Its occupiers over the years have included Spicer Bros paper merchants and the Laystall Engineering Company.

A restrictive covenant dating from 1911 – linked to an unrealised proposal by the Borough of Southwark to widen Loman Street – was finally lifted in 2014, paving the way for redevelopment.

Introducing the application, planning officer Neil Loubser said Forge Architects' scheme was a "high quality development" which would "sensitively convert and restore" the historic building.

Architect Babs Farmer told councillors: "We are very keen to put this building back into a sustainable use."

Cllr Cleo Soanes, chairing the committee, said: "This seems like a very positive application. I'm delighted that we are retaining and protecting its heritage whilst bringing it back into use."

The sub-committee resolved unanimously that planning permission and listed building consent should be granted.

• For further details of the planning application see 17/AP/4668