NEW plans have been submitted seeking permission to convert a former church into six flats.

A previous planning application for three studios and three flats at the former Providence Baptist Church on Clipsley Lane, Haydock had been submitted to St Helens Council in June last year and was later withdrawn.

Now the applicants have sent in new proposals for the conversion of the historic building.

The church, which dates back to around 1876, has been empty for a number of years.

The derelict building was purchased in an auction in June 2019.

A design and access statement, prepared by ArchiPhonic, on behalf of applicants Windsor Property Holdings Ltd, said: "The existing building on site is approximately 11m tall and is essentially an empty shell with temporary study walls and intermediate floors inside". 

It added that in pre-application advice "the response from the Local Planning Authority was that a residential development on the site is in principle acceptable subject to other material considerations".

The document concludes: "The proposal aims to bring a dilapidated building back into use as modern residential accommodation.

The revised proposal has responded to the feedback from the previous pre-application advice by seeking to apply minimal external interventions to the existing building shell, altering the existing property through a series of discrete manipulations and permutations in response to the surrounding context and its original built form.

"The proposal involves minimal, if any external alterations to the existing building and as such the integrity of the building would remain as existing".

A determination deadline has been set for the plans for Tuesday, October 19.