Demolishing Aberaeron’s 180-year-old cottage hospital building to make way for social housing is “unjustified” and will “cause significant harm” to the character of the town, a consultation has heard.

The Princes Avenue building, built in 1838, will be turned into 20 one-bedroom flats for social housing, if plans submitted by Wales and West Housing Association are approved.

At a planning consultation held before the application is decided by Ceredigion council, several objections to the plans were lodged.

Heritage group Save Britain’s Heritage said it “strongly objected” to the plans for the building, which started life as a workhouse for the Aberaeron Union before being converted to a hospital at the outset of World War One.

“Demolishing [the building] is unjustified and will cause substantial harm to the unique character of this historic town,” the group said.

“The loss [of a building] with such a rich history in Aberaeron cannot be seen as anything but harmful to the integrity of the conservation area.”

Efforts to have the building listed ahead of any potential development were thwarted. Cadw refused pleas to give the former cottage hospital listed status in a bid to at least save the façade.

Neighbours who objected to the scheme said the new design is a “Georgian pastiche” which bears “no reference” to the current design of the hospital building.”

John Evans, of 2 Bryn Road, said the “massive increase in height of the whole of the proposed building will be so high it will block out the sunlight to our house”, and objected to the increased footprint of the new development.

Concerns were also raised over parking and transport issues with the development.

Aberaeron Town Council did not lodge an objection to the demolition plans, saying it “welcomes the site’s development for social housing”.

A heritage report for the developers said that the building “has lost a considerable amount of historic character” over the years “such that the building itself is now of limited architectural merit.”

“Its primary significance lies in what we know about its past rather than in the aesthetic value of the structure that we see today.”

Developers added that the condition of the hospital building “is generally poor to the point of having an adverse impact on its appearance”.

“The proposed development will provide much needed affordable housing within Aberaeron,” developers said.

“The redevelopment of the site for residential purposes is considered to be a positive introduction to the street scene which will be sympathetic to the Georgian context within Aberaeron and its location within a conservation area.”

The plans, lodged in full in September, are now with Ceredigion council, and planners are set to make a decision in the new year.