Plans to turn former Methodist chapel in Warton into house rejected

A dilapidated former Methodist chapel in Warton has been saved after a plan to replace it with a new two-bedroom house was thrown out.

Parking worries and the loss of an historical asset were the prime reasons given by councillors at this week's North Warwickshire Borough Council planning board as they refused planning permission for the site on Austrey Road, Warton.

A report explained that the chapel was one of the earliest Methodist Society buildings in the Tamworth area but had more recently been used as commercial premises to carry out car repairs. 

It added that while there had been eight letters of support from local residents who considered that a new house would be an improvement on the current run-down appearance of the building, there was an objection from Warwickshire County Council's highways team who raised concerns over the proposed parking arrangements for two cars, saying that it could obstruct the footpath and possibly the actual road.

Cllr David Humphreys (Con, Newton Regis and Warton) said he was unable to support the application.

He added "I know this building needs to have something done with it. I was told it was an old Methodist chapel. It started to be a religious area in 1828, the last service was in 1920 and I believe it was used as a garage around 1980.

"You cannot put those cars in that parking area without encroaching on the pavement and that means parking on the road and there were already problems parking on the road because of that bend.

"I'm a bit concerned that officers have gone against highways who have written a five-page report on the fact that this building would be too dangerous for pedestrians to have windows open out onto the pavement. I'm annoyed that highways have said something and we've ignored it because in other areas of this village we've used highways as the Holy Grail. 

"I am also concerned about the heritage of the building which would disappear."

Cllr Haydon Phillips (Lab, Hurley and Wood End) was also worried about the impact on the road. 

He said "Before the site visit I was quite prepared to support this but on closer inspection I just don't feel that I can. I was quite surprised just how dangerous it would be to park vehicles up."

Cllr Margaret Bell (Con, Hartshill) said "While it would be very nice to see an appropriate development to maintain this building I think this dwelling on this site is just overdevelopment and it is dangerous."