We are delighted to announce that a faculty has been approved (November 2022) for the plans to restore, re-purpose and extend the village church for community use, allowing us now to get on with actually establishing the envisaged Village Centre!
A ‘faculty’ is quite like Listed Buildings Consent for a church where the plans have to be considered by diocesan experts who consult with statutory consultees such as Heritage England, Victorian Society, the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings, and the Local Authority.
Preparing the submission was a considerable piece of work with over a thousand pages of drawings, documents and reports all supporting the case for the restoration and re-purposing. Many revisions were required in the design development process to accommodate the advice from these expert organisations. Numerous specialist surveys were also needed to support and justify the proposed designs, from archaeological excavations of sections of the church floor and churchyard, to detailed technical submissions of designs for the proposed new multi-layered damp-proof floor. We had to do flood risk assessments, arboriculturalist reports, English Nature studies, churchyard percolation tests, and specifications for the various heritage buildings materials. Special consideration was required for conservation techniques and methods to be used to restore medieval furniture, monuments and the stain-glass windows.
Securing the Diocesan Faculty and also Planning Approval from Charnwood is a significant milestone. We can now be confident that every technical detail and permission has been considered and approved and now we can crack on with the fundraising campaign and the phased delivery of new Village Centre!!