A LITTLE-used community church in Old Compton Lane is set to be converted into a one bedroom house subject to planning permission.

The 423 square foot St Mary’s Church was built in the mid-1800s by LF Bateman of Moor Park House as a school for the children of his estate workers.

In the 1910s it was sold to the parish of Farnham ‘for the benefit of Compton residents’ and subsequently became a community church.

However, St Mary’s congregation has dwindled in recent years and with high maintenance costs predicted, St Andrew’s took the decision to sell the building.

A deal was initially struck late last year with a children’s nursery provider. However, the sale fell through and St Andrew’s instead sold the building to a developer this summer for £190,000.

This week, new owner Mr P Chappell submitted a planning application to convert St Mary’s into a small house, together with a single-storey glazed extension and roof lights.

A planning statement by Mr Chappell’s agents PROwe Planning Solutions said: “The church has recently been sold by the former church management on the basis that no demand arose for continuing community use. Given the small size of the building this is not unsurprising.

“While it is important to retain the character and appearance of the building, there can be no other reasonable expectation of a use other than the small-scale residential conversion proposed that would enable the building to be maintained in a positive use.”

St Andrew’s churchwarden Andrew Partridge said St Andrew’s ability to influence St Mary’s future use was limited by Charity Commission rules which state church assets must be sold to the highest bidder.

However, he added that all proceeds of the sale will be reinvested in the parish of Farnham.

Mr Partridge told The Herald: “St Mary’s was just a shell really and it needed a lot of money spending on it. We just couldn’t afford to support it anymore which was a shame.

“But on reflection a sympathetic conversion of the building will cause the least disruption to neighbouring residents and it allows us to reinvest the money in other initiatives.”

The application can be viewed online at www.waverley.gov.uk/planning by searching for planning application reference WA/2015/1867.