Plan to turn Craven Arms bungalow into church for group
A four-bedroom bungalow could be transformed into a new church to give a religious group in Craven Arms a permanent base.
The Shropshire Hills Mennonite Church has applied for change of use of the property, in Clun Road, into a place of worship.
The group has met since 2012 and is part of the UK Mennonite Ministries, a denomination of Christianity which values justice and peace-making, and is part of the Anabaptist movement.
UK Mennonite Ministries, a registered charity, has a small office in Craven Arms and operates Shepherds Hill Furniture Ltd from the same premises.
A supporting statement submitted alongside the planning application said: "The congregation currently meet in Aston on Clun at the Village Hall on a Sunday and in Edgton, near Craven Arms, on weekday evenings.
"However, sometimes the Aston on Clun Village Hall is not available on a Sunday for use by the applicants and they have need to find another hall to use, sometimes contacting sometimes up to four other potential halls before a suitable one is found."
The applicant's agent, Peter Richards & Co, said this lack of certainty caused confusion for worshippers, with 60 to 80 people typically attending each service from across south Shropshire.
Missed
"The applicants are proposing a new place of worship to be created in Craven Arms which will consist of a modest-sized and adapted building that will afford the church their own dedicated space for quiet reflection and to host meetings.
"Despite utilising various village halls for approximately eight years, the constant changes in the location regularly causes confusions with new and existing members of the congregation.
"On many occasions, members or visitors of the congregation have gone to the wrong location or missed services.
"Having no set base for services or meetings also means that the congregation have no adequate storage for items or cannot leave displays or rooms set up between services, as the halls are constantly in use by different groups.
"As with other faiths it is considered that the congregation need a home of their own for their congregation to meet centrally and use the rooms for their own needs."
It is proposed to demolish the property's conservatory, utility room, garage and workshops to replace them with a new church hall at the rear of the bungalow.
The plans will be considered by Shropshire Council.
