COUNCILLORS have unanimously approved £21m plans to to demolish and rebuild the former premises of Motorola in Viables.

Plans put forward by Legal & General Property Partners Ltd. promise to bring 275 jobs to the area.

The work will see the demolition of the existing building on Jay’s Close, to erect three brand new units, along with parking including 17 Electric Vehicle charging points.

Motorola announced it was leaving Basingstoke in 2017 after 30 years in the town, affecting 250 people who worked for the company.

Members of the council’s Development Control Committee heard on Wednesday (February 10) how the plans will transform the site, making space for industrial companies and offices.

The site would “not necessarily” be used 24-hours a day but “would have the flexibility” for this.

Sara Dutfield, on behalf of the applicant, said the project will receive investment of £21 million, adding: “The site was purpose-built for Motora, is no longer occupied, and fails to provide conditions required by companies.”

Dale Rose, the applicant’s sustainability energy consultant, added that each unit will have a mixture of solar for hot water and electricity usage, accounting for 15 per cent usage of each.

Cllr Andy McCormick asked whether the charging points would be “solely for employees, or could they be used by residents?” to which Ms Dutfield responded that they would be “for users of the site itself”.

Concerns were raised about the volume of traffic along Jay’s Close and using the roundabouts on Grove Road.

However, it was confirmed that, at busiest times, there would be 5 or 6 HGVs per hour, a net increase of just three per hour compared to the Motorola site. While the number of employee cars would likely be similar or fewer. In addition, the highways authority stated they had “no objection” to the volume of traffic.

Supporting the application, Cllr Nick Robinson said: “We’ve got an office block here that's empty and unlikely to be let, and there's a chance to change to warehousing on a brownfield site. In terms of that it is a good thing.

“It seems to me it looked like we had staff cars of 500 people coming and going out and now we’ll only have 275, but an increase in the lorry movements. Lorry movements I would think will be spread throughout the day, so I think the overall impact on the area is going to be minimal.”

Officers’ recommendation to grant the application full permission was unanimously agreed by members.

It comes after work began last month on a similar project at nearby St. Modwen Park, which will create 250 new jobs for the area, according to St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics company.