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A plan to turn a vicarage linked to a listed church into flats has been stopped – in an appeal that saw both parties demanding expenses. The Church of St Chad in Tonge Moor is a Grade-II listed building built in 1937. Plans were submitted last year to demolish the vicarage linked to the building and replace it with 18 flats in a part two-storey, part three-storey building.
The application was rejected by the council – so the applicant, a resident of the area, appealed their decision to the Planning Inspectorate. However, they did not side with the applicant. Inspector R Major said the site is located on “a raised and prominent position” in a “largely residential ” street.
They said that since most of the houses are two storeys, this “allows the church to be the dominant building within the street scene". Inspector Major said that the current plans would “obscure views of a significant section” of the church’s tower – which can currently be seen from “long distances”. They said the building “would undermine the prominence of the listed building in the street scene” and also “harm the character and appearance of the area in general” and dismissed the appeal.
Along with the appeal outcome, there were two decisions on whether costs would be awarded. Both the council and the applicant applied for costs to be covered as well claiming the other had acted “unreasonably”. The applicant said that the council “acted unreasonably”.
The Church of St Chad, a Grade-II listed building (Image: Google Maps) They said that after hearing the design officers were concerned they changed the drawings, removing the third floor from the proposal. But before submitting the new plans they wanted to talk to the case officer “who at the time was on annual leave". They said that “various attempts were made” to contact them, but the application was refused by the council before they could talk.
The planning application was refused on April 30, 2024 – “a number of weeks” before the determination date which would have expired on May 29. However, Inspector Major said that this complaint relates to the handling of the planning submission and not the appeal process. They said that planning guidance states that the “local planning authority should make a decision on the proposal as quickly as possible” and that the council were “under no obligation to wait until the statutory time limit date”.
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uk Inspector Major also said that it is “not explained” how this led to “unnecessary or wasted expense” and dismissed the appeal. The council also applied for an award of costs to be given. They said that by not submitting an appeal statement, the applicant had “behaved substantively unreasonably” because without one “the appeal had no chance of succeeding”.
READ MORE: Meeting hears about Bolton's pressing need for houses READ MORE: Grand opening for pocket park on Cheadle Square, Bolton READ MORE: Bolton Council Dentdale Close, Lostock access plan halted They said that this had resulted in “unnecessary expense”. Inspector Major said that, although they reached their own “planning judgement”, they did not think it was unreasonable to think that the proposal, as originally submitted, would succeed on appeal. They said: “I do not agree with the [council] that the content of the appellant's statement means that the appeal had no chance of succeeding.
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