REVISED plans to convert Kidderminster's landmark Piano Building into flats and shops have hit the right note with council chiefs and conservationists.

Planners meeting tonight have been urged to approve the scheme to convert the historic wool warehouse on the edge of the Weavers Wharf complex into 10 flats with shops beneath.

They have also been recommended to support moves to put up a two-storey, glass fronted retail extension next to the Piano Building and running along the canal towards Slingfield Mill, home to the De Bradelei Mill Shop.

The Piano Building - so called because it resembles a grand piano from the air - has been the subject of long-running controversy.

It was destined to bite the dust last year when plans to demolish it and put up a modern cinema in its place were approved.

Days later, however, the building was granted listed status, forcing its owners to reconsider its future.

The new project meets demands to conserve the building in a way that retains the majority of the historic features, including the original wet dock into the building from the canal.

Discussions took place between the owners, Highstone Estates, English Heritage and Wyre Forest District Council before the detailed plans were drawn up, according to a report to councillors.

The comments of English Heritage calling for more of the internal features to be retained have been followed, the report noted.

The CABE organisation commented in the report: "We welcome the saving of the Piano Building as a local landmark."

British Waterways also supports the development "in principle" but the Inland Waterways Association calls for the scheme to be rejected, claiming it is unsympathetic to the building's history and makes it "look like a gymnasium."

Conditions relating to the height of the ground floors and extra tests to assess land contamination levels should be added in to safeguard the building from flooding and to prevent pollution, adds the Environment Agency.

Wyre Forest's planning (development control) committee meets tonight at Stourport Civic Hall to decide the application.