As the former Quayside building is replaced, work on four new flats within the development should start within months.
Plans to build four flats at the old Quayside House and a former store house called Sierra Leone were already approved in 2023 – with a condition that work must start within three years.
The site’s owners have now been given new permissions to vary their plans slightly – with a new condition that work must start by June 2027.
The buildings which are being converted into flats are protected, along with other aspects of the entire site including “the historic paving, weighbridge, gate pillars at Northside and Longree and boundary wall at Longree”.
The exterior of the former Lifeboat House (also formerly La Croix Guerin), aspects of the roof structure, roadside walls, and piers are also protected.
The varied plans concern the windows and doors.
As the redevelopment work has started, the builders have discovered that some of the windows which had to be retained are “incapable of repair and retention”.
It was suggested that replacing those windows and some of the doors “would not have such a significant adverse effect on the special interest of the protected building”.
Those details have now been agreed by the Development and Planning Authority.
The bulk of the former Quayside site is being redeveloped into a new retail centre.
The former retailer closed in 2015, with TJ Morris Ltd, which operates Home Bargains in the UK, granted planning permission to redevelop the disused site into a discount store in 2023.
Further plans have been approved to create an on-site café.
When it is open the new retail centre will cover 23,000sqft and offer 100 jobs.
The site will have 70 parking spaces and new vehicle access is being created.