A proposal that would turn a town centre restaurant into a shop, HMO, and flats has been submitted again despite a previous plan being rejected days earlier.

The initial application for the Spice Lounge building, in Market Street, Watford, was rejected on August 7 after being submitted in June, yet four days later a new plan was submitted to Watford Borough Council.

As in the first plan, the storage area behind the restaurant would become one flat with stairs leading to a floor containing two HMO units and another flat to the rear. A third HMO unit would be on the top floor, directly above the other two.

The new proposal contains changes to separate the homes, amended glazed non-opening windows, and two new roof windows. The windows aim to minimise overlooking issues and improve the level of light and outlook.

Unlike in the first set of documents, the corridor area and kitchen between the HMO units is separated from the corridor used to access the first floor flat by a door.

Spice Lounge will have to close for the plan to be put into action but, while the previous plan was being considered, the landlord said that the work may not have started for some time as the restaurant still had more than two years on its lease.

When it rejected the plan, Watford Borough Council said it would have provided “poor quality living conditions for future occupiers”.

The commercial element on the ground floor, the building’s appearance, and bin storage provision were all deemed acceptable.

However, it took issue with the loss of privacy for neighbours and the living conditions in the flats.

A cover letter submitted with the new proposal claimed plans with “far worse” overlook issues had been approved and highlighted the improvements in the new plan.

It added that “it is generally accepted” that where small flats are within walking distance of public open space, “such as Cassiobury Park”, personal open amenity space is not an essential requirement.

Referring to the first-floor changes, the letter continued: “We believe that this has improved the layout.

“Apart from this point all of the rooms have good light and outlook and the layout is typical of any flatted development.”