A LAST ditch attempt to stop Wantage’s old police station being turned into flats for the elderly has failed.

Renaissance Retirement hopes to demolish the former police station and magistrates’ court on Church Street in the next three months and build 32 retirement apartments.

Mayor of Wantage St John Dickson led a final challenge by the town council against the plans after they were approved on July 3, hoping to delay them due to a technicality.

On Wednesday it was revealed the council had been unsuccessful, but Vale of White Horse District Council had managed to squeeze £340,760 out of the developer towards affordable housing in the area after “robust negotiation” – £215,000 more than originally proposed.

Mr Dickson led the fight against the plans because his council wanted to buy the plot and get shops and car parking there.

He said there was nowhere else the town centre could expand its commercial offer, and that the formative Wantage Neighbourhood Plan, which recommends developing the plot as a retail area, was had been ignored. He said: “I’m absolutely devastated. If the town centre is going to expand the only place for it to do so was thereat area.”

But he said he did not want to see the neighbourhood plan altered until Renaissance had actually built its scheme.

The Vale’s planning committee voted to give Renaissance Retirement permission for its plans on July 3. The decision was challenged because Mr Dickson said that a planning officer at the July meeting incorrectly told the committee they could only vote on whether to defer their whole decision after they voted on whether to accept or reject the scheme.

If they had been able to vote on whether to defer the decision first, the town council hoped it could buy vital time to develop the neighbourhood plan first.

The plan is still at a formative stage and has not yet been officially adopted, and the same planning officer told the committee that it was not far enough along yet for them to take it into formal consideration.

The main reason the neighbourhood plan steering group chose that part of town south of Church Street as the best place to expand the town centre was that a report commissioned by the Vale council said that was the only viable place to do so.

But last Wednesday, planning committee chairman Robert Sharp told the committee meeting at The Beacon in Wantage that correct procedure was followed.

He said: “Having considered both subsequent representations from some members about the advice given by officers and the investigation of a complaint by Wantage Town council about the process followed that evening, there followed "a review by democratic services, who advised that the correct process was followed.”

However he also told the committee that planning officers had managed to get an extra £215,000 out of Renaissance towards new affordable housing in the district.

The company had originally offered to give £125,000, but Mr Sharp said: “Subsequent to the meeting, officers successfully, but not without further robust negotiation, secured that sum, which made the total contribution in excess of £340,760.”

Renaissance managing director Robert Taylor said: “Judging by the number of sales enquiries we have received, there is a considerable demand for this type of development.”