Halifax: Gothic-style former church in Yorkshire town centre to be turned into 15 flats
A former town centre church in a conservation area can be converted into 15 flats, planners have agreed.
Concluding any harm done by proposed changes would be outweighed by benefits, Calderdale Council planners approved Mr Michael Chow’s proposals for the Ebenezer Methodist Church at St James Road in Halifax.
The Gothic-style Methodist church was built in 1922 and was marketed for sale at £200,000, according to a brochure advertisement included with the application from surveyors Walker Singleton.
No representations from members of the public were received about the application.
Although the building is within Halifax Town Centre Conservation Area and is a non-designated heritage asset, these designations do not afford the interior of the building any protection in planning law, despite its possible historic value.
As such, internal historic features could be removed lawfully, without prior consent of the council, so the focus of the assessment of impact settles in external alterations, said the officers.
They agreed planning conditions could address issues raised by the council’s conservation officer, including need for replacement front doors to the existing ones which have been damaged, more modest alterations to those initially proposed to remove windows, and amended plans showing retention of roof ventilators.
A low level of harm introducing some roof lights would entail being outweighed by other benefits – maintenance of a key but vacant building, and a modest contribution to increasing housing.
A condition will ensure the roof lights are displayed more discreetly than originally proposed, say the planners.
As a whole, the benefits outweigh any harms, the officers concluded, approving the plans.