PLANS have been submitted to Cheshire West and Chester Council to convert a former church building into apartments.

The application submitted by Evolution Childcare relates to the former Weaverham Methodist Church on Forest Street.

The Grade II-listed building was built in 1878, was deconsecrated in 2009 and has been without a use ever since.

Evolution Childcare, which already runs a children’s nursery in a building located on site, is proposing that the church building be transformed into four residential apartments.

Each would have two bedrooms, an en suite, a bathroom and a family and kitchen area.

Northwich Guardian:

Ground floor plans

Two apartments would be located on the ground floor and two on the first floor, all with separate access via a communal lobby.

Plans for the 150 square metre site also include provisions for onsite car parking for eight cars.

According to planning documents, the building includes many of the established materials and design features of the period and is still in a ‘reasonably good state of repair’.

This is despite no maintenance work being carried out for ’some 20 years’.

Northwich Guardian:

First floor plans

If approved, the applicant will seek to replace the existing windows with double glazing, however the existing solid external doors are to be retained and refurbished.

At the time of writing, one comment was submitted from a nearby resident in Forest Street who raised concerns over the impact that the conversion would have on traffic, which they say is already an issue.

They said: “I would like to point out that parking on the road is already very limited, and the extra car traffic will add to more car traffic.

“The speed limit is supposed to be 20 miles per hour, but quite a lot of cars and vans often exceed this on a regular basis as there is no deterrent.

“Could you not put traffic calming humps in the road to slow the traffic as there is a primary school at the top of the road?”