New plans have been submitted to subdivide a 19th century Crewe vicarage into two separate dwellings, with one retained for church use and the other to be rented out.

The application from the Diocese of Chester to subdivide the grade two listed St Barnabas Vicarage, West Street, comes a year after it proposed a similar scheme, only to withdraw it the following month.

This latest application is to sub-divide the property into two dwellings with one to be retained as the vicarage and the other being available for members of the public to rent, with the Diocese of Chester remaining as the landlord.

A supporting planning statement from Fisher German, on behalf of the diocese, says: "The proposal will create minimal changes to the external fabric of the property, with the majority of changes happening internally."

The Diocese of Chester wants to subdivide the grade two listed St Barnabas Vicarage, West Street, a year after it proposed a similar scheme, only to withdraw it the following month (Cheshire East Planning).

St Barnabas Vicarage was built in 1885. It is currently used and connects to St Barnabas Church with eight bedrooms split over the second and third floor.

The first floor has a kitchen, meeting room, office, living room, cloakroom, pantry, coal store, laundry room and store room.

The diocese says it has two main reasons for wanting to split the building.

The planning document says: "The diocese are spending a large amount of money on heating the property even though only a small part of it is in use, and therefore it is not viable to run.

"A second reason the diocese are wanting to carry out the works, is to make the vicarage more accessible for all members of the community.

"There is currently no downstairs toilet, nor is there an entrance ramp, meaning the property is not accessible to everyone in the community."

The new scheme proposes keeping the vicarage part of the building on the western side of the property, with an accessible ramp on the outside to accommodate for all potential visitors and residents.

The proposed vicarage will be a four-bedroom property split over two floors.

St Barnabas Vicarage was built in 1885. It is currently used and connects to St Barnabas Church with eight bedrooms split over the second and third floor (Nub News).

The planning document adds: "The vicarage will be a dynamic place to live as well as a place to host the congregation of St Barnabas."

This new dwelling will be a three-bedroom property split over three floors.

The last date for submitting comments is Tuesday 20 August, with the application due to be determined by planning officers under delegated authority.

READ MORE: Man taken to hospital with 'head injury' following incident in Crewe.

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Crewe Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.

Subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter email HERE - just click the 'SIGN UP' button.

Please consider following Crewe Nub News on Facebook or Twitter.