Former Staveley church to be converted into housing

Chesterfield Borough Council has granted conditional planning permission for applicant Rafiq Khan to convert the old St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church into housing.

The building on Chesterfield Road will be turned into four apartments and eight new properties will also be built on adjacent land.

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Support and concerns expressed over development

A number of residents supported the planning application during the public consultation phase.

Sue and Carl Kirk said the development would be an 'improvement to the area which is deprived at present'.

"The site is derelict and is attracting drug users and vandalism," they added.

Aleksandra Harding said: "I would like to support the application.

"I think it will be a great improvement and bring into use an abandoned building.

"Investment is badly needed in this area and should be welcomed."

Marc Harding said: "We are in need of better-quality houses in this area and we should encourage housebuilders to build these good-quality homes in this neighbourhood."

However, several residents raised a number of concerns about the development, including fears over an increase in traffic.

"Chesterfield Road has increasingly got busier and there have been a lot of accidents, some fatal," the objectors said.

"Having a new housing estate would escaluate the amount of traffic and the proposed new entrance will make matters worse.

"Pulling out of the church when it was used was hazardous - there is blind bend and accidents happened frequently."

However, highways bosses concluded 'the development proposals are considered to acceptable'.

The church was last used as a place of worship in November 2017.

Following a review, the Bishop of Hallam, the Right Reverend Ralph Heskett, decided to close the church based on its ageing and dwindling Catholic population as well as insufficient funds for future upkeep and maintenance.