Hereford's Mormons plan new building

While other Herefordshire churches are being closed, sold off and repurposed, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known informally as the Mormons, wants to replace its meeting house in King’s Acre Road west of the city with a larger building, with the addition of a spire.

“The Church’s membership has outgrown the existing building,” its application (number 252145) says, with attendance expected to hit 140 in five years, compared with the current chapel’s capacity of 90.

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Originally the Church proposed a new two-storey building largely on the current building’s footprint, but this was later changed to a wider, single-storey building.

The current Mormon meeting house off the A438 King's Acre Road Partitioned from the main chapel would be a cultural hall, which the current building lacks, while several teaching spaces and a “witness area” would lie to the south.

With its larger windows, the new design would improve natural light, while the addition of a spire would “create a focal point and signify this building as a place of worship”, the application says.

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A separate storage building to the north would be removed, while car parking on the site would increase from 32 spaces to 48, with new trees to be planted in between.

The Church earlier sought pre-application advice from Herefordshire Council planners, who said they would prefer to see the existing building remodelled and extended.

Comments on the application can be made until August 19.