Care home to replace Hereford city church

A modern Hereford church is to be demolished and replaced with a three-storey care home under newly published plans.

Worcester-based Heritage Manor Ltd is seeking planning permission (application 251696) to replace the 1980s-built St Barnabas Church in Venns Lane to the northeast of the city with a 52-bedroom care home in a “cruciform layout”.

The firm says it would manage the new facility alongside Newstead House nursing home, which it already operates, “as a single care operation, allowing for shared staffing and reducing management costs”.

The spot “provides exceptional views over Hereford”, though it “slopes significantly”, their application says, which has prompted a stepped design for the building with a smaller lower storey.

All 52 rooms would be “large” with an en-suite wet room, with many having direct outdoor access, while communal areas would have “ample” natural light.

With “a central bellcote with a single bell”, the church “is no longer needed by the parish and was declared closed for regular public worship in June 2019”, the application says.

In early 2023 the Church Commissioners, who are responsible for the Church of England’s estate, published proposals for its demolition and disposal of the site, the proposal being agreed later the same year.

But councillor Frank Cornthwaite who represents neighbouring Holmer ward said at the time that five Christian fellowships still used the building, and that 126 had voted against its disposal with only one voting for it.