A RHONDDA church could be turned into flats if councillors approve plans to reduce the developer’s affordable homes contribution.
An application to turn Ystrad English Congregational Church on Church Road in Ton Pentre into 11 flats is going back before Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s planning committee on Thursday, July 6, with a recommendation for approval.
It originally went before the committee in November 2022, when members voted to approve it subject to a Section 106 agreement, which included a financial contribution equal to 30% of the open market value of one of the two-bedroom flats.
After that, the applicant’s agent said the economic environment has worsened since the building was acquired by his client and the viability of the scheme has been affected because the off-site affordable housing contribution has become unsustainable.
The planning report said the application was submitted prior to the UK Government’s ‘mini-budget’ in September 2022, which resulted in a sterling crash and interest rate hikes and with inflationary pressures and falling property prices, the report acknowledged these factors are having an impact on development costs.
The report said the council’s supplementary planning guidance makes provision for exceptional circumstances where site viability is considered to be an issue and, in this case, “it is considered that the submitted assessment demonstrates that an affordable housing contribution, although modest, would add to that lack of viability”.
It added: “In all other respects, the proposed development remains a well-designed and thought out scheme which would provide quality housing and secure the future of an existing, vacant building.”
The recommendation is that it be approved but without the requirement for a Section 106 agreement for an off-site affordable housing contribution.
The plan is for the accommodation to be over four floors and include eight one-bed flats and three two-bed flats.
The November committee report said the footprint, scale and form of the building would be unaltered, since the majority of the works would be internal.
It said no off-street parking can be provided on site but a small green space to the north-facing part of the site would be landscaped and there would be a new gate and cycle storage.
The report said the application relates to a large church building on the corner of Church Street and Church Road which was built in the late 1800s but stopped being a place of worship in early 2020.
The November committee report mentioned one objection over the lack of parking provision and said people park near the site to catch the train to Cardiff, as well as large lorries delivering to a nearby builder’s yard.
The objection also said there is a right of way through the back of the church for numbers 21 and 22 Church Street, the church is a home to bats, there are already flats next door and that the application does not acknowledge the trees and hedge on site.
But the report said the matter of any neighbouring rights of access or easements are not a material planning concern and the conversion of the church does not require any enlargement of its footprint into the space around it.
It also said the Ecological Impact Assessment found no bat roosts, but evidence of jackdaw nests, adding that biodiversity enhancement measures are recommended. It said a small garden is proposed.
In recommending approval in the November report, planning officers said: “The proposed development would contribute towards the local housing supply and provide a range of one and two-bedroom flats in a sustainable and convenient location.
“In addition, the reuse and conversion of the building would secure the retention of a prominent and attractive building, remove opportunities for dereliction, and result in a positive impact to the street scene.
“Whilst there are concerns that the site is physically incapable of providing any off-street parking, these have been set against the benefits of the re-use of the site and its proximity to local facilities and the rail and bus network.”
