A FOLLOW-UP application for a housing development at the site of a former church hall have been submitted.

Initial outline plans for the demolition of the church hall at Christ Church in Eccleston and to build seven homes, three detached and four semi-detached, were approved last year.

A reserved matters application for the creation of seven detached houses at the site off Chapel Lane, which has also been home to a doctor's surgery, has been submitted to St Helens Council.

Plans say the medical centre moved to Millfields Lane in October 2018, and the site has since been vacant.

A design and access statement, submitted on behalf of Hassett Homes, says the site also includes dilapidated tennis courts which have been "completely overgrown."

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The church hall has a history as part of the Eccleston community stretching back more than 80 years to the 1930s. A reference to the hall was made in 1938 when the vicar of Eccleston, Reverend Edward Lomax produced a 27-page booklet ‘One Hundred Years of Work and Witness’ to celebrate the centenary of Christ Church.

Over the years the hall has been the setting of many cherished memories and numerous long married couples in Eccleston first met at an event or club hosted at the church hall.

Badminton players of a certain age will also be able to recall when the St Helens finals took place at the hall.

The design and access statement says: "The site was last used as a doctor’s surgery, located in a temporary modular building fronting Chapel Lane.

"The doctor’s surgery was demolished in 2019 and the site has since been vacant, posing a risk of anti-social behaviour to the detriment of neighbouring occupants".

The statement adds: "This reserved matters application seeks permission to build seven detached homes (six four-bedroom and one five-bedroom), to help satisfy a local need.

"The proposal provides a valuable opportunity to enhance an unused site in a prominent position along Chapel Lane.

"New residential developments in sustainable locations such as this one have great potential to support local shops and facilities by increasing the number of people who will use them".

It concludes: "The aim of this reserved matters application is to bring a new use to a vacant site, with high quality design providing a positive contribution to the immediate surroundings".

The application is on public consultation until Tuesday, July 28.