Церковь «Hope» в Лофтусе просит разрешения на использование бывшего здания Co-op для общинной деятельности

Church's retrospective planning bid for use of former Co-op building in Loftus The Hope Church said it operated a grocery from the premises which had between 70 and 100 visits a day A church is seeking retrospective planning permission from Redcar and Cleveland Council for a former Co-op building in Loftus used as a base for its activities. The Hope Church, in East Cleveland, part of the Cleveland and Danby Methodist circuit, outlined in its submission a number of volunteer-led community groups regularly taking place, including toddlers and youth clubs, bingo and music sessions and a ‘Here to Help’ monthly session signposting households to local support services. It also described how a grocery operated four days a week from the building supplying low cost products to people in financial need, which had up to 100 visits a day, while a ‘welcome space’ was also provided to those facing isolation or struggling to keep warm. A statement submitted to the local planning authority said: “Hope Church East Cleveland is very different from a normal traditional church with its row of pews and regular hourly Sunday service. Hope is a church on the margins and comes under the Methodist New Places for New People programme. “Such places are generally instigated in localities which have both significant financial and social need, as is the case with Hope in Loftus. There is no Sunday service as such. The Christian message and Gospel is interwoven into the activities it does.” Planning documents show a change of use application recently lodged for the ground floor of the building, which is on the A174, from commercial to a place of worship and community use. The application stated it was owned by a developer based in Consett, County Durham. Loftus ward councillors Tim Gray, Wayne Davies and Linda White have been consulted, along with the town council. In 2023 the council’s regulatory committee approved plans for 15 new flats on the first and second floors of the substantial building, the floors having previously been used as offices. Did you know you can make Teesside Live a preferred source of Teesside news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here's more information about what this means and how to do it - you can also do it by clicking here. For the latest Teesside news direct to your inbox every day, sign up to our free newsletter To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your Teesside community, visit the Public Notices Portal.