A THURNSCOE church is set to be turned into a storage unit for a local housebuilding business after Barnsley Council deemed plans acceptable.

St Hilda’s Church, based on Hanover Street, was built in 1935 and is currently owned by the Diocese of Sheffield.

It was originally built to accommodate the miners in the area and in 1980, coal mining accounted for 81 per cent of male employment.

But, like with many churches across Barnsley, dwindling congregations and a subsequent drop in funding resulted in the church officially closing its doors for worship in 2017.

The Church of England made the difficult decision to close the church after cracks appeared in the east wall and the boiler broke in December 2016.

Thieves then broke into the site, entering through a small window and stealing a crucifix, candlesticks, a reading desk and other metal items.

Eight years later and a prospective buyer of the church has now submitted plans to turn it into storage space for his homebuilding business - and he wants to build a two-metre-high fence around it.

A report states: “The applicant is the prospective purchaser, and he lives adjacent to the application site.

“The applicant operates a small housebuilding business and is seeking to use the building principally for general storage.

“The applicant also wishes to use the building occasionally to carry out admin duties and hold meetings with clients.

“The new use would not have staff and will only be used/ visited on an ad hoc basis by the applicant.”

No ‘bulky’ items will be kept on the site but the plans to erect the fencing are seen as important.

The report added: “The applicant would visit the property to pick up and drop off general building items as and when the need arises.

“This will be carried out in the applicants own vehicle, which will either be his own car or transit van.

“The applicant lives adjacent to the site so he will walk to the site for security checks, building maintenance and to carry out admin work.

“There would be no bulky goods stored on site - such as bricks, blocks or aggregates - as they are delivered direct to the building sites.

“The site is surrounded by residential properties, and the applicant lives directly behind the site.

“Therefore, the site benefits from natural surveillance.

“However, to improve security and to protect the church grounds, the application includes a proposal to erect a two-metre high fence with gates to the side and front.”

The plans were approved by Barnsley Council’s planning board last week after no objections were received by councillors or local residents.

An officer report states that there are no concerns about the use due to there being a number of other local churches within the vicinity of St Hilda’s.

It added: “The church closed in 2021 and has been advertised for sale by the Diocese of Sheffield and the Church Commissioners for England due to them needing to dispose of some assets.

“This indicates that it is not economically feasible to keep the church in use.

“There are two other places of worship within the Thurnscoe village and more slightly further afield in Goldthorpe.

“As such, it is not considered that the change of use would have a significant effect on the ability of local people to access a similar service elsewhere, especially given that the church has been closed since 2021.”