A dentist has applied to the council to turn an existing chapel into a private dental practice and three apartments.

Tom Friar, of Skipton Road Dental Surgery, lodged plans with Pendle Borough Council last week asking to transform Saint Peter and Saint Pauls Roman Catholic Church in Gisburn Road, Barrowford, into a private dental practice and three one-bedroom apartments.

The dental practice would be accessed from Gisburn Road and would occupy the ground floor and first floor, whereas separate access and associated landscaping would be created for the proposed apartments, which would be on the lower ground floor.

St. Peter and St. Pauls was founded in around 1897 and the building was run as a Catholic church up until 2019, when a decision was made to close the church due to declining numbers, issues with car parking tariffs in the area, and the availability of other churches and mass times in surrounding parishes. 

It was sold not long after. 

The building, while not itself listed, is located within the Higherford conservation area and is surrounded by a number of listed buildings including Higherford Old Bridge, and two Grade II listed stone cottages, but the change of use will not affect any of these sites. 

Mr Friar's proposal intends to organise the existing space to create a dental practice over two floors with a total internal area of 380m2 and three one-bedroom apartments with separate access.

A design and access statement submitted to the council says the appearance of the building would remain relatively unchanged with the exception of new windows to meet with current energy efficiency performance requirements, while there are no proposals to extend the existing building or alter the existing scale of the building.

The planning statement read: "The proposal offers a new use and community asset to the local area.

"It is our opinion that the renovation proposals will have no detrimental impact on the conservation area and the wider listed buildings.

"The change of use allows this existing heritage asset to secure a future as a beneficial part of the community."

Residents have until June 28 to submit any comments about the application.