Four-storey apartment block could be built beside listed church in Sheffield

The plot beside St Cuthbert's Church, opposite the Northern General Hospital, in Fir Vale, was home to St Cuthbert's Family Social Club but has been vacant for more than a decade and is now used as a makeshift car park.

Coda Planning has applied to build 24 apartments at the site on Horndean Road, with 12 parking spaces for residents.

That is double the number of homes for which permission was granted back in 2006.

But the developer claims the scale complements that of the Grade II-listed church and a residential property across the road.

It argues that the current use as car parking space has a 'detrimental impact' on the church building, and the 'high quality' design of the new block would be more desirable.

"It is clear that the proposals do not have a detrimental impact on the adjacent listed St Cuthbert’s Church and in fact the proposals high quality design will be a substantial improvement over the current informal use as a parking area and hardstanding," the application states.

The applicant also claims the proposed parking is sufficient since only around half the residents would be expected to have cars and there is some on-street parking available outside of hospital visiting hours.