A planning proposal to convert a disused church into 13 apartments has caused mixed feelings in the local community.
St John the Baptist’s Church, Church Street, Bollington, a Grade II listed building, was constructed between 1832 and 1834.
The Anglican parish church was closed for worship in 2003 and has been vacant since.
Nickie Stanley, who has lived on Turner Street, Bollington, for nearly 26 years, said: “Yes, we need more housing, but I do feel, for this particular site, it’s too many.
“I don’t feel the amount [of apartments] is conducive to what they’re trying to do.”
AtelierMB, a Manchester-based architecture company, bought the site in 2010.
In 2011 and 2014, gravestones over a hundred-years-old were relocated to another area of the churchyard to make space for a future car park construction.
The architecture company’s previous application was rejected in 2022 by Cheshire East Council for reasons such as a lack of housing types, and ‘unjustified and unmitigated loss of Protected Open Space.’
Their latest proposal, submitted in November 2025, has attempted to address these issues, by lowering the number of proposed apartments from 18 to 13, for example.
To accompany these apartments, 23 parking spaces have been proposed.
For residents living on Church Street and nearby, this is untenable.
Nickie questioned, “Where are all these people going to park?”
Another local resident spoke about how there isn’t the means or infrastructure to support 13 new homes and over 20 parking spaces.
The proposal outlines that a section of the consecrated grounds is the planned location for the parking area and a one-way road.
Nickie says the idea of remains being landscaped over is ‘unsettling.’
Church Street provides access not only for residents, but also for ambulances reaching Ingersely Court Care Home, and for articulated, HGV trucks which need to reach Tullis Russell.
Mike Broadbent, who has lived on Church Street, Bollington, for 11 years, said his main concern alongside the extra traffic, is the ‘disruption that will be required to actually get the building established and hospitable.’
While Mike praised the plans’ aims to keep the church as it, he added, “I just think they could probably do it a little better, probably a little more sympathetically, because they are going to have to take trees down to get access.
“It’s the preservation of the area I’m concerned about.”
AtelierMB’s planning proposal insists that public access to the graveyard would be retained, yet the continued use of the burial ground is also an area of doubt for residents.
Mike said that while the development would be taking place, “I don’t know if they will still allow people to come in.”
Nickie explained that visiting relatives’ graves is ‘part of how Bollington is,’ highlighting how well-attended the local graves are.
“There are always people tending graves,” she added.
While residents are concerned about the higher volume of traffic and pressure on local services, they appreciate the concept behind converting the church.
Nickie said, “It’s a good idea, the fact that the church is going to be used.
“The advantage is that it’s not going to go to rack and ruin.”
Mike highlighted that the conversion would mean the church wouldn’t get vandalised anymore.
“It’s a beautiful building and a testimony to the masonry skills we used to have,” Mike said.
The Bollington Town Council Planning and Infrastructure Committee is meeting to consider the application on February 24.
Cheshire East Council will then consider the planning proposal.