Ellesmere Port's historic Masonic Hall is set to be demolished after plans build 17 homes on the site were approved. Cheshire West and Chester Council gave the development the green light on Friday.
The lodge, located on Chester Road, has not been in use since March 2020. The plans by Archway Homes Ltd involve the erection of a mix of two-storey dwellings and bungalows, with four one-bedroom apartments housed in a single building on the site.
The building was marketed for alternative uses for 15 months, but the planning officer reports that "since the pandemic the site has only been used as informal parking."
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The site has seen planning permission for houses refused on multiple occasions, the most recent being in 2005. The plans were refused at the time due to interim council restrictions on developing brownfield sites.
Plans for the site, located opposite Ellesmere Port Hospital, drew three objections. In the report, the planning officer writes: "Three comments have been received relating to residential amenity, trees, drainage and highway safety."
The front part of the large, two-storey Masonic Hall was once a dwelling named Silverne built around 1910.
The house was renamed around the 1930s to Woodlands but the Silverne name has been retained in the neighbourhood as the name of the adjacent road.
In a report recommending approval, case officer Edward Shepherd said: "The application has been amended to provide four 1 bed apartments which will be secured as affordable to rent housing as well as one two bedroom semi-detached dwelling which will be shared ownership."
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