Lydgate Sunday School, Holmfirth Road, New Mill, HOLMFIRTH, HD9 7LF

change of use of former Sunday school Class F(I)(f) to retail unit Class E(a), and alterations to boundary wall and vehicular access

Authority: Kirklees Metropolitan Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: retail · Change of use
Inspector: Cooper W

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would result in an unacceptable loss of a community facility
The effect of the proposal on the vitality and viability of Holmfirth Town Centre, Honley District Centre and New Mill, Brockholes and Shepley Local Centres

What decided it

The substantial benefits of securing occupation, repair and maintenance of the vacant, at-risk listed building outweighed the limited harm to centre vitality and the minimal heritage harm.

The substantial combination of benefits (heritage preservation and re-use of a vacant listed building, socio-economic benefits, and improved access) outweighed the limited harm to the vitality of nearby centres and the minimal less-than-substantial harm to the listed building.

Plan policies cited: Policy 9 of the Holme Valley Neighbourhood Development Plan 2021-2031 (NDP), Policy LP48 of the Kirklees Local Plan (LP), Policy LP13 of the LP

Judgments cited: Warners Retails (Moreton) Ltd v Cotswold District Council and others [2016] EWCA Civ 606

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.