Plans could see former Corby church demolished and turned into residential dwellings

Plans which could see a former Corby church demolished and turned into residential properties have been submitted.

The proposals for St Patrick’s Church in Corby could see the venue transformed into 14 new dwellings.

Worshippers from St Patrick’s were forced to join neighbouring congregations’ services when it was announced that the church would close in August last year (2022).

As part of a review into their property portfolio Northampton Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust carried out an assessment of the buildings at St Patrick’s Church.

The application’s planning statement says: “Unfortunately as part of this exercise, they were advised that a significant section of the Church and attached buildings were no longer considered to be safe and that the works required to put the building back into a safe working order would be extensive and extremely costly to carry out.

“Due to the dwindling numbers of regular parishioners attending weekly services at St Patrick’s Church, it was felt that it would not be a sustainable use of funds to carry out the required works. Therefore, the difficult decision to permanently close the Church was taken.”

The application seeks to gain outline planning permission for a residential development of up to 14 dwellings and associated works, including the provision of parking areas and turning areas, provision of private amenity/garden space and provision of cycle and refuse storage.

The application site is bound by Millais Road to the north, Morland Road to the east, Gainsborough Road to the south and Murray Walk to the west.

The proposed development will involve the demolition of St Patrick's Church and the attached Presbytery building, both built in the 1960s.

The application states: “St Patrick’s Church is not a designated heritage asset nor is it considered to be a local heritage asset.”

The Northampton Catholic Diocesan Trust, who own the application site, seek to redevelop the site to provide additional funds to support the continued work they carry out for the local community and support the maintenance of the other churches and community buildings which are within their control.

Although the application is made in outline, an indicative layout plan has been prepared.

The layout plan shows the range of house types which could potentially be provided within the site, which includes a range of detached, terrace houses and a flat.

The plans state: “The future occupiers of the proposed dwellings would have a good standard of amenity in terms of the size of amenity space, privacy, sunlight and daylight as well as adequate off-street car parking.”

They say it will be of ‘high-quality design and appearance’ and ‘constructed from materials which reflect the design and character of the nearby properties.’

It is proposed that plots one to eight will have their own private parking spaces to the front or side of the dwelling houses.

Plots nine to 14 will have their own allocated parking spaces within a small parking courtyard.

Additionally two visitor parking spaces will be provided within the courtyard.

The existing pavement surrounding the application site will be retained to enable safe pedestrian access into the development.

To view the full application visit the North Northamptonshire Council Planning and Building Control website.