Church's mental health centre conversion rejected

Plans to convert an old church into a mental health therapy centre have been rejected by planners.

The proposal for the Thanksgiving Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes on Whinney Heys Road in Blackpool had been recommended for refusal by Blackpool Council's planning officer on several grounds.

Planning committee councillors agreed with the concerns, which included there not being a proven need for it and the designs being harmful to the Grade II*-listed building.

The scheme would also have seen the expansion of the neighbouring mental health facility to create 35 bedrooms.

The chapel was built between 1955 and 1957 in thanks for Blackpool largely avoiding being bombed during World War Two.

It was saved from demolition in 1999, but there have been no services there since, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The scheme would have joined the church to neighbouring Cygnet Newton House, a 21-bed specialist rehabilitation service for adult men with complex mental health issues.

Mental health service providers Cygnet, who own and operate Newton house, were in the process of purchasing the Shrine church from the Historic Chapels Trust (HCT), which is closing its operations.

The planning officer said the applicant had "failed to demonstrate" there was a "locally generated demand" for more beds, with the proposals "not supported by the relevant commissioning managers".

The officer added the extensions proposed would be "incongruous additions to the site" and would be "significantly harmful to the character, quality and significance of the non-designated heritage asset and the Stanley Park conservation area".

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