Community centre expansion plans get approval

A first-floor flat of the Comer Gardens Institute will be refurbished for the centre's use

Plans to expand a community centre in Worcester have been approved.

Comer Gardens Community Centre, which currently occupies the ground floor of the Comer Gardens Institute, will take over a dilapidated flat in the building.

The city council’s planning committee backed plans to renovate the first-floor flat for centre use at a meeting on Thursday.

Councillor Jill Desayrah said she was pleased to see a community centre developing while committee chair Karen Lewing said it was a "shame" to lose social housing.

Ms Lewing added: “I was really struck by the photographs of the existing flat – that is not the kind of place we want people to live in, is it?

“It’s a shame to lose social housing but that was probably the wrong place for it and it was in poor condition.”

Committee members raised concerns about wheelchair access to the first floor of the building but planning officers said building regulations were not a matter for the committee to consider.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.