THE owners of a Newton Abbot family business have resubmitted plans to convert its existing premises to a detached four-bedroom home.

South Devon Optical has operated from a single-storey commercial building in Torquay Road used as its principal offices, laboratory and showroom for clients for 27 years.

But a statement to Teignbridge Council says the 40-year-old business has reached a point where its current premises are not sufficient to meet its needs in terms of laboratory and office space, meeting areas for clients, and crucially, provision of parking to serve its employees and customers.

To partially fund a move to more suitable and larger premises and future growth of the firm, it wants to replace the existing building with a family home. As a result, a need has been identified to relocate the business to more suitable, larger premises elsewhere within the town.

To partially fund this move and the future growth of the business, the company is seeking to replace the current commercial building with a single detached dwelling.

Neighbours of the building in Torquay Road have raised a number of objections to the new proposal.

But agents for the applicants say the resubmission of a previously refused application has reduced the proposal from two dwellings to one.

The statement said: ‘The reduction in the scale of the proposal also results in a proposal of demonstrably improved amenity to its neighbours.’