The Proposals
The Church is seeking to deliver a new, purpose-built Gospel Hall to meet the needs of the local congregation. The proposals would create a new purpose-built Gospel Hall to the back of the site, while returning the existing building at the front to employment use.
Following extensive pre-application discussions with Rutland County Council, the Church is bringing forward plans which have been designed to be sensitive and appropriate for the local area, while improving the site’s surrounding natural landscape.
Below is the proposed site layout, with the bottom of the red line being Luffenham Road.
The Site Today
The existing site has evolved from a former employment use, with previous permissions allowing temporary and then permanent change of use to a Gospel Hall. The congregation has been using the building for over ten years. This means the hall was not originally designed as a place of worship and has instead been adapted from former agricultural and employment uses, meaning it is increasingly unsuited to meet the congregation’s needs safely.
Key challenges with the existing set-up include capacity, the facilities being split across different buildings, creating inefficiencies and health & safety risks, and a constrained parking arrangement which does not make best use of the space and is not up to ideal safety standards.
The proposals will introduce a more appropriate layout by removing the bungalow and smaller poor-quality structures at the frontage, returning the main existing building to employment use, and delivering an attractive new place of worship further back in the site.
The Hall
The Church has worked closely with Rutland County Council to develop proposals which are appropriate for the site. Simple in its design with a focus on effortlessly integrating with the rural landscape, the single-storey Gospel Hall has been designed to balance a traditional barn-like appearance with subtle contemporary elements.
The design of the Gospel Hall ensures that it will not have a greater visual impact than that generated by the current building on site. Its size has been kept to a minimum while still providing adequate space to serve the local congregation as a much-needed place of worship.
Community Benefits
The new Gospel Hall represents an important opportunity to bring wider benefits to the village, including:
- A modern base for charitable and community activity, supporting the work of the Rapid Relief Team, a charity made up of volunteers from the Church.
- Returning the existing frontage building to employment use, helping to support local economic activity.
- Improved views from Luffenham Road through the removal of poor-quality frontage buildings and sensitive landscaping.
- Delivery of a Biodiversity Net Gain exceeding the minimum required national standard of 10%, providing new native trees, flowers, shrubs, and wildflowers across the site, which will also help soften any visual impact
Connectivity & Transport
The site is already in use as a Gospel Hall, and is centrally located for the local congregation. It is therefore well-equipped to accommodate vehicles entering and exiting the site on Luffenham Road. Our proposals have been developed to reflect this existing use while still being sensitive to the capacity of Luffenham Road and other neighbouring roads. Services at the Gospel Hall will continue to take place outside of peak travel times to ensure there is no detrimental impact on the local road network.
The congregation makes extensive use of car sharing (on average four people per car), which will keep traffic impacts on the surrounding roads to a minimum. The site is also within cycling and walking distance of Ketton, supporting sustainable travel.
A further 43 new car parking spaces will be delivered, taking the overall total at the site to 165, plus 8 disabled. This meets Rutland County Council’s parking standards. There is provision for 6 EV charging points too. This is sufficient space to accommodate those accessing the Gospel Hall and prevent any need to park off-site.
The images to the right show the existing view driving along Luffenham Road (above), and the outline of where the new Gospel Hall will sit (below).
