Ross-shire church’s relocation plan in Invergordon gets the green light from Highland Council
A church’s plans to relocate into nearby vacant office space in an Easter Ross town have been given the green light.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently sought a change of use permission for the former Highlands and Islands Enterprise offices in the building on the corner of Invergordon’s High Street and Castle Road.
The church, which is currently located just across the road at 64 High Street, has agreed to buy some of the former HIE offices and is seeking to relocate to part of this site.
But to do so it requires planning permission to change the building’s designated use from office space to that of a “non-residential institution”.
It also hopes to revamp the interior to create a chapel capable of accommodating up to 60 people, as well as multiple meeting rooms of various sizes (six in total).
Drawings included with the plans show that the new church meeting rooms would be accessed via the building’s Castle Road doorway and located in that part of the building - the section once occupied by Home Start Ross & Cromarty - rather than the part which fronts onto High Street.
Explaining the reasons for the relocation in documents lodged with the plans, the church’s agents said that the existing base at number 64 is “not fully accessible and fail[s] to fully meet the current needs of the church”.
As well as changing the use of this office space, the church also plans to erect a small sign at the entrance and make changes to the rear entrance step to make it more accessible for disabled users.
Internally, a number of new partition walls would be erected in the previously open plan office space to create the six meeting rooms and chapel.
Granting permission under delegated powers, a Highland Council planning officer said: “The location of the application building is considered to be appropriate in accommodating the proposed change of use. The existing meeting place for the church is located nearby on High Street, so it can be concluded that the proposed location is appropriate, and as such the proposal can be supported by the planning authority.”
They added: “The current premises for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no dedicated parking, which would indicate that the existing level of public parking in the vicinity of the proposal is sufficient to meet the needs of the visitors to the building.”
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