Miners' welfare club to become community hall
Coal miners once used the site as a recreational facility
- Published
A former miners' welfare club in a Leicestershire town is set to be converted to a community hall.
The venue, in Leicester Road, Ibstock, had sat empty for several years before the parish council put forward plans to redevelop it.
Previous plans to update the building, which had been described as "tatty" were delayed due to the Covid pandemic, according to planning documents.
On Tuesday, North West Leicestershire District Council published its approval of its redevelopment into a village hall.
Under the approved plan, the building will become a "community multi-use facility" with a main hall to accommodate groups of up to 146 people at one time.
It will also have private meeting rooms and offices which planning documents state would "enhance the potential revenue streams for the parish council".
The move follows a community consultation held in 2022.
The site was established in the 1920s as a sports ground for miners from the area.
It was later leased from the parish council by the Ibstock Miners Welfare Scheme, a charity formed in 2004.
The council eventually took over the running of the building and began making plans for its future.
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