Plans for 44 new homes on the site of disused NHS offices in Devizes have been revealed.

Southgate House on Pans Lane, is the former headquarters of the what was local Clinical Commissioning Group.

NHS Property Services now plans to build 27 apartments and 17 homes on the grounds after failing to find new commercial occupiers.

A spokesperson said, “Southgate House is now surplus to the requirements of the local NHS and is currently empty. We have carried out extensive marketing of the building to potential commercial purchasers, but there has been no interest.

“We have therefore identified an opportunity to bring the site back into use as a residential neighbourhood.

"Southgate House itself is a very distinctive and architecturally interesting building, so we are proposing to refurbish it to provide 27 spacious, high quality apartments, as well as incorporating measures to update and improve the energy efficiency of the building.

“We are also proposing 17 new build homes on part of the wider site, the design and layout of which has been carefully considered in relation to the surrounding context. The site is a highly sustainable location in relation to Devizes Town Centre, which is a short walk or cycle away”.

The proposal will include the retention of existing boundary trees and plants as well as the planting of new trees and green spaces to increase the site’s biodiversity.

An outline planning application is being put together, which will establish the broad principles and parameters of the redevelopment.

IN the meantime the views of Devizes locals are being sought through a pre-application consultation website.

Those who would prefer to voice their opinions in person can do so at a drop-in exhibition of the plans at The Cheese Hall on December 13. The consultants who are preparing the application will be on hand to speak to the public.

An NHS Property Services spokesperson added: “We would welcome the views and suggestions of local people as we prepare our outline planning application for the redevelopment.”

The redevelopment, alongside a similar project at the site of the town’s former community hospital, aims to generate revenue which can then be reinvested into local healthcare services, most notably the new £11 million health centre on Marshall Road.