A FORMER meeting room in Sellack has been given the go ahead to be converted into a holiday Let or an annex for a dependant relative by Herefordshire planners.

The building located at Upper Grove Common, is a single storey brick construction 4.5 metres wide and 9.5 metres long with a slate roof and domestic style wooden windows and doors.

Historic Ordnance Survey mapping dates the structure as being established in 1887 and is identified as a Meeting Room associated with the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. This use is understood to have ceased around 1980.

The applicants purchased the building in 1992 and have since used it for domestic storage.

The building is currently in generally good structural repair and that no significant external alterations are proposed.

Existing windows and doors are to be refurbished where practicable, and the exterior is to be repainted.

The applicant believes the scheme would secure the sensitive restoration of a locally significant building, and it would deliver a viable long-term use, thereby supporting its continued management and maintenance.

The planning application also suggests that the proposed holiday let would comprise of a single bedroom and is therefore modest in scale and that the accommodation would remain within the ownership and control of the neighbouring cottage.

Herefordshire planning officer Chloe Allen-Hewitt said subject to the imposition of appropriate planning conditions, the proposal is regarded as acceptable with respect to design and landscape considerations.

She added: “The scheme would secure the sensitive restoration of a locally significant building and would deliver a viable long-term use, thereby supporting its continued management and maintenance.

“The building is single-storey and of traditional rural character, constructed of brick beneath a slate roof.

“Openings comprise timber windows and doors with stone cills. Owing to its historic and architectural qualities, the building is considered to possess local heritage value.

The officer also noted that as Herefordshire is being promoted as a destination for quality leisure visits and sustainable tourism, said this development is providing attractive accommodation within a rural settlement.

Ms Allen-Hewitt concluded that the proposal is considered to be acceptable and accords with local and national planning policy and that the application is therefore recommended for approval with the condition that the spatial relationship between the application building and the neighbouring cottage will be preserved and prevent the sale or letting of the holiday accommodation separately from the host property.

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