Plans to extend St Mary's Church in Wollaston as current building has ‘limited space and facilities to offer good quality youth work’

Proposals received by North Northants Council on July 22 suggest the new two-storey extension will be built using natural limestone rubble walling alongside the north wall of the Chancel, and hopes to feature two community meeting rooms, storage, an accessible toilet, a separate entrance and a staircase, with an overall internal floor area of 129 sqm.

Planning documents say: “The proposed extension is to replace the parochial church rooms in College Street, Wollaston.

"The extension needs to function in a way that allows the whole church building to be used at the same time but for different activities.

"This involves quiet contemplative spaces for prayer and worship and other livelier spaces with acoustic and visual separation.

"The current numbers of young people that come to St Mary’s on a Sunday morning are not being adequately provided for as the church has limited space and facilities to offer good quality youth work.

"The range of weekly activities and events that now take place within St Mary’s mean there is a real and immediate need for additional meeting rooms and storage facilities.”

Plans have been put forward after the sale of the parochial rooms in College Street, just 350 metres from the church, due to ‘running costs’.

It is the vision of the church to consolidate all its facilities on the church site, having the ability to host multiple groups at once under one roof.

The church partly collapsed in 1735 and was later rebuilt.

Since then, the building’s layout has remained consistent since 1737, with the interior being reordered from 2014-2016 which has ‘given the church a new lease of life’, allowing it to better host regular community-based activities.

The documents note that the church extension will not generate a need for additional car parking based on the fact there has never been an extensive car parking provision at the church.

Read the full planning application here, or by searching with the reference number NW/24/00422/FUL on the North Northants Council planning portal.