Repurpose of Church Grounds

Planning our future built world

Repurpose of Church Grounds

Overview

We have recently been successful on application in using PiP to secure Permission in Principle for up to 5 dwellings on the site of a 1960s building last used as a Catholic Church.

Despite the site being located within the settlement boundary for Bourton-on-the-Water, McLoughlin Planning were initially met with resistance from Cotswold District Council to the prospect of redeveloping the brownfield site for a residential use. The building was previously used by the Diocese of Clifton for Catholic services, these were now mainly being conducted from their church in Stow-on-the-Wold, which meant the site was surplus to requirements.

Being faced with a refusal, McLoughlin Planning had to provide additional justification to comply with Policy INF2 which governs the redevelopment of community facilities such as places of worship. We explained that not only was there a suitable alternative venue in a nearby settlement that was more popular with the church’s congregation, but there are similar community facilities in the same planning use class within Bourton-on-the-Water that could perform the same services.

The Council requested a marketing exercise to prove there was no demand for the use of the site, however we successfully argued that this was not a policy requirement, because this only applied to the loss of a shop or pub. Consequently, McLoughlin Planning was able to demonstrate full compliance with Policy INF2 and the application was subsequently permitted.

This example further serves to demonstrate the usefulness of PiP Applications for private clients in providing highly cost-effective solutions to determine the development potential of their land and secure an uplift in value.

If this were a conventional outline or detailed application, upfront costs would have been considerably higher, reflecting the need for more technical work. Whereas, with the PiP process, the costs are largely focused on the planning case for the development, allowing significant savings to be made.

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