AN OLD industrial building in Cowley could be knocked down to make way for a mix of houses and flats.

The former warehouse sits behind Marshall Road, a residential area of Cowley, and has been used as a bakery and a furniture store in the past before it fell into disuse.

Developer Drennan International Ltd wants to build five flats and two pairs of semi-detached houses in the place of the warehouse, situated down a narrow lane behind the main road.

A design statement submitted with the application said the new homes would make a better use of the site than the current empty industrial buidling.

Because the access lane is so narrow, the planning application also includes a scheme to demolish a garage at one of the houses at the entrance to it, so cars driving down there have more room in the future.

A new parking space would be built outside the house to replace the lost garage.

Oxford Mail:

The narrow access. Picture: Google Maps.

The houses would be built on the sites eastern side of the site.

Each pair of semi-detached houses would be made up of a three-bed house and a four-bed house, and all of them would have a garden 12m long and 6m wide.

The flats would be built in a single large, three-storey block on the west side of the site.

The flats on the first floor and ground floor would each have their own private balcony, while the fifth flat would be in the loft.

Alongside the new homes, there would be 11 parking spaces: one for each house and flat and two for guests.

There would also be a covered area for residents to store their bicycles.

A design statement written by JPP C Planners on behalf of Drennan said: "The proposal seeks to make best use of a significantly under-utilised employment unit, whose continued use is not the best suited use in terms of the amenities of neighbouring residential properties."

According to Companies House, Drennan International has a registered address at Temple Road in Cowley.

The company usually makes specialist fishing gear and supplies it to high street shops .

For more information about the application, visit Oxford City Council's planning webpages at oxford.gov.uk/planning and search for reference 20/00821/FUL.