Hall renovation plans would 'improve' memorial site

Planners said the setting of the war memorial would be improved by the work

Renovations to a village hall will improve the area around a listed war memorial, planners say.

Cumberland Council approved plans to upgrade the parish hall in Scaleby, near Carlisle.

The project by Scaleby Parish Council will involve the demolition of existing extensions, with replacements built to the side and back of the building.

It would "allow enhancements to be made" to the setting of a Grade II listed World War One war memorial, council planners said.

The development will provide a new entrance with an access ramp, a revised kitchen, a storeroom, toilets and plant room, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The property is a large church hall constructed in 1895.

According to planning documents, the war memorial dates from 1920 and was built in memory of those fallen in World War One.

A new entrance will be created to provide access to those with disabilities

Documents said: "The war memorial is of significant historical interest and it is witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the Great War.

"As a listed structure, the Grade II Listed war memorial is of national importance. It is of both architectural and historic significance, particularly given the associated archival evidence held in the parish records."

They added thought had been given to the impact of the plans on the memorial.

"The overall proposed scheme [...] will allow enhancements to be made to its setting with the relocation of the entrance to the hall such as landscaping and planting around the front of the property."