A planning application which has rumbled on for over two years has finally been resolved, as it was rejected by planners.

The 2017 application (17/01170/B) submitted on behalf of the Parish of the Northern Plain by Mr Q Aulton was to demolish the Andreas Church hall in Andreas Village.

Attached to the house next door, the hall has been up for sale with Chrystals estate agents for about a year, during which time several interested parties have explored a purchase, with a proposed sale falling through late in 2019.

The chairman of the planning committee, Tim Baker MHK, said at the start of the meeting that the building ’has been in front of us a few times’ including its last appearance where a decision was deferred to allow the potential purchasers time to explore mortgage options which ultimate proved unsuccessful.

Opposing demolition of the property was historian Peter Kelly from the Victorian Society and the owners of the adjacent property, who wrote to planners to outline their continued opposition to it being demolished.

Mr Kelly said that the layout of the building, dating from the 1830s, means it is ’unique in the island’ and should be preserved. He also criticised the planning application for providing ’no detail’ on how the gable, which is built into the adjacent house, would be protected or how it would affect the boundary of the property. He suggested that the building, with three former school rooms and a master’s room, could be used for workshop space or it may still be possible for it to be a residential property if the right owner was bought.

The planners agreed with Mr Kelly and admitted the application has been an ’unusual’ one throughout.

While a majority of members rejected it, Mr Baker voted in favour of demolition saying: ’We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.’

However, the Ayre and Michael MHK criticised the owner of the adjacent property, which he said was ’derelict’ for commenting on how the hall should be looked after.

Other members of the committee commented that they hoped the church hall would be back in front of them with a viable plan and hoped that a new owner may be found soon.