If a planning application for the conversion of a meeting room at Gorsley Baptist Church is given the go ahead the village could once again have a community shop and post office.

The new venture at the village between Ross-on-Wye and Newent, will be a community-run and funded development, with any profits generated being reinvested into the community.

Those behind the scheme are very grateful to Gorsley Baptist Church for allowing them to site the proposed shop on their Church premises.

The conversion will include the installation of a new door and access ramp. The room is part of the current Gorsley Baptist Church development and is currently used as a meeting room by church groups and other external organisations.

Local resident, Andrew Gardner, is a member of the church and the steering committee aiming to bring the scheme to fruition. He told the Ross Gazette that in order to take advantage of post office funding they need to get the shop running before the end of March. In addition to the planning permission the group needs to find 50 volunteers willing to offer two hours a week in the shop, and they also need to raise £35,000 to cover the setting up costs, including the alterations and stock. The shop will also need to fund a part-time manager.

The previous shop in the village closed in August last year and no-one was willing to take on a new shop. A group of village residents, including representatives of both churches in the village, the parish council and the village hall looked at setting up a community project. The church offered the use of the room provided it was to benefit the local community, and the group is now on its way to getting the whole scheme up and running.