Historic Shrewsbury church hall will become three houses after council gives conversion the nod
A former church hall in Shrewsbury is set to become three new homes after Shropshire Council gave the go-ahead for conversion work to begin.
The landmark St Mary's Church Hall in Shrewsbury, which has seen use as offices and a dance studio, will be converted into "three generous townhouses" under plans put forward earlier this year.
The building has also been pressed into use as a record archive for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, but was purchased in 1982 by an architect's practice, which converted it into office space.
Now, the building is set for a new lease of life as residential accommodation after officers decided full planning approval was not required for the scheme.
Shropshire Council's planning team ruled that the now vacant offices, which had been in daily use until architecture firm Arrol and Snell relocated this year, can be converted into three homes under permitted development rules.
The firm had been based in Shrewsbury for more than 40 years prior to its relocation.
The permitted development rules, known as a so-called "Class MA" change in planning terms, were brought in during 2021.
The legislation, which stands for "Mercantile to Abode", is designed to make it easier to convert empty offices into living space by removing the rquirement for full planning permission - provided only limited external changes are included under the scheme.
"The proposed change of use of the building from Class E to Class C3 to provide 3 dwellings meets the criteria... and the proposal therefore constitutes permitted development," said a decision notice from Shropshire Council's planning department.
"Minimal external alterations are proposed, and as the building is not listed or curtilage listed, listed building consent is not required.
"Improvements or alterations which affect only the interior of the building, or do not materially affect the external appearance of the building do not amount to development and would not require planning permission," the planners added.
The scheme was decided on Tuesday (September 2).
The application can be viewed online via the council's planning portal using reference 25/02561/PA3MA.
