TWO Hampshire businessmen are campaigning to stop offices being turned into flats.

Nick Joynes and Alistair Peebles are lobbying Winchester City Council to reject an application to turn the third and fourth floors of Capitol House in Bridge Street into 12 apartments.

The homes would be above their businesses, the Natural Travel Collection and Talk Design and Print.

“Capitol House is one of the city’s very few offices that provides a business with a comprehensive list of positives, and the offices should be protected for the sole use of business only,” said Mr Joynes, whose company employs 26.

Both businesses have raised concerns over health and safety of their staff during the conversion period and the risk of accidents on an access road, which also serves as a pedestrian area for flats and the multi-storey Chesil car-park.

Alistair Peebles, director of Talk Design, which employs eight, said the dust and noise created during a protracted construction period would disrupt his business.

He added that the new government policy which meant schemes to turn office premises into accommodation without planning permission denied the two businesses affected a voice.

“We are contributing to the city and employing people but our complaints are not being heard,” he said. “In Winchester it seems that residential interests come before commercial.”

He said he feared that when their lease expired they would be forced out as their offices were also converted into flats.

Catherine Turness, executive director of Winchester Business Improvement District, said they were supporting the two firms in their fight to against the flat scheme.

“We recently carried out a survey of BID businesses and many professional industries identified the need to expand their company yet want to remain in central Winchester,” she said.

“The demand for professional office space remains high and thus we feel it is essential that key office premises like Capitol House remain to allow both existing businesses the chance to grow and encourage new brands into the city, which in turn creates employment opportunities.”

Hampshire Chamber of Commerce have also objected to the scheme “Residential development offers high yields in the short-term but in the long-term future there will be nowhere for people to work,” he said.

After being contacted by Mr Joynes Winchester MP Steve Brine said he would write to the council’s chief executive asking him for the matter to be debated at a future planning committee meeting.

A spokesman for the council said: “A prior approval process gives the local planning authority the chance to consider the technical details of such a request. It does not, however, allow the Council to refuse it on the grounds of the principle of the development.

In terms of the general demand for office space in Winchester, the City Council recognises this as an issue which needs to be tackled. Developments such as Station Approach seek to address part of this problem, and the Council is keen to find solutions to the need for modern office space in the city which meets the needs of the business community.

The application has been made by Winchester architects Radley House Partnership on behalf of Southampton-based Aquitane Developments.

When approached by the Echo a representative of Radley House preferred not to comment on the matter.