A former church in Powys could be converted into a dwelling as an application for planning permission has been submitted to the council.

Earlier in October, an application seeking to convert a church in Aberedw, near Builth Wells, to dwellinghouse used for short-term letting was submitted to Powys County Council and is currently awaiting approval.

The church, Aberedw United Reform Chapel, is a Romanesque building that is already part of a dwelling house but was licensed as a place of worship in 1837.

The application is seeking to change the use of the building from a place of worship to a dwelling house that will be used by the owners for short term letting.

As part of the council’s assessment of the application, Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government, offered a consultee comment on the proposed plans and said they had “no objection to the proposed development”.

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Their response said: “The proposed development consists of the conversion of a stone-built church to a residential dwelling with minor external alterations to the rear (south) elevation, a new arched window within the gable and patio-type bi-fold doors at ground level.

“This elevation will be visible from both monuments. However, as a minor alteration to an existing building, the very slight visual changes in the views from the monuments will not affect the way that they are experienced, understood and appreciated.

“Consequently, the proposed development will not have an unacceptably damaging effect upon the setting of scheduled monuments.”

The application also included a biodiversity enhancement plan and a green infrastructure statement that proposed building swift boxes and bat boxes to facilitate some of the wildlife in the area.

The plan added: “The site encompasses the Church building itself, a shallow area to the north between the building and the wall against the footway, a narrow footway to the east allowing access to inspection chambers and the shallow grassed area to the south at the rear of the building.

“The size of the site restricts the opportunity for enhancement of biodiversity. Nonetheless, the applicant commissioned an ecological survey, including a detailed survey of bat and bird activity.

“Given the very limited opportunity presented by the site, the proposals above, both Biodiversity Enhancement and Green Infrastructure Statement, represent an opportunity to increase both range and volume of wildlife use of the building.”