A HERITAGE group has been given six months to make a convincing case to convert a former police station into a history centre.

Councillors have agreed to give Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission six months to draw up a business case for transforming Portslade Police Station into a heritage centre. If the group is unsuccessful, the site will be converted into a four-bedroom wheelchair accessible house as part of a £127,000 project.

Council officers had recommended that work to convert the station, which dates from 1908, into housing should begin immediately because the economic viability of a community led heritage museum was “uncertain” with the group having to find funds to purchase and refurbish the premises.

But following a Conservative amendment supported by Labour councillors at Thursday’s policy and resources committee, the heritage commission will be given more time to develop their proposal. The delay was criticised by council leader Jason Kitcat who said the heritage commission had already been given six months to work on the viability of the project in 2013.

Bill Randall, housing committee chairman, said: “There is a huge shortage of wheelchair housing in this city, there is a real opportunity to provide a wheelchair house for a family.”

Coun Randall also dismissed previous suggestions by opposition councillors that the new home was not desperately needed because there were many empty properties in the vicinity. He pointed to figures that showed there was just eight empty social homes out of 1981 in Portslade, Hangleton and Knoll. Council officers said the plans to convert the site into housing had been backed by English Heritage and that a pause would mean the council would lose out on rental income.

Les Hamilton, Labour councillor for South Portslade, said many residents were not aware of the original planning application to convert the site into housing granted in October 2013 because it was described as the store between 67 & 67A St Andrews Road, Portslade.

Roger Amerena of the Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission said: “There are four wards west of Hove Museum with 44,000 people who don’t have any sort of heritage centre or museum going all the way to the Adur border.

“Six months will be plenty of time for us as long as we get cooperation from the council officers over getting into the building.

“Officer concerns about funding is a red herring.

“The commission has been advising Beacon Hill Hub and they have been given a lease from council on a peppercorn rent and we would be looking for a similar type of lease.”