Executives from Churchill Retirement Living held talks in the town hall on plans to turn the former magistrates’ court site into 26 retirement flats.

Associate planner Tom Whild said the reaction to it was mixed.

He said: “There have been some people certainly who have been very positive and there have been some issues raised which is why we are here. We have some comments about the height of the building, the level of parking and the access.

“Most people have accepted the basic principle, but sometimes people don’t want to see anything, but from what I have seen most people are quite happy to see something happening on the magistrates’ court site.

Councillors Gill Massey and Geoff Ackerman attended the consultation.

Cllr Massey said: “We would like to see the site looking nicer than it is now. We are not against it as such. The height is slightly an issue – it is about 11 metres. They are calling it two and a half storeys but the half storey is in the roof and it is as high as another storey really.

“We are pleased to see something happen there, it has been an eyesore for a long time.

“In an ideal world we’d all like to see some affordable housing there for all ages but financially [it is] very tricky.”

Cllr Ackerman added that nine parking spaces for 26 flats did not seem like very many.