Flats plan for Ross on Wye's former masonic hall

Plans have been put forward to convert a former Herefordshire Masonic hall into flats.

The four-storey, grade II listed building in Ross-on-Wye’s conservation area, lying between Wilton Road and Wye Street, was built in 1836 as the British and Foreign School.

It has since been subdivided, and only the top two floors, accessible from Wilton Road, would be converted, to two two-bedroom flats for open market sale.

The two upper floors were used until recently by the Vitruvian Lodge, which has now moved to new premises nearby, while the separate lower floors are already in residential use.

The planning application has been put forward by Manbro Developments, which has a track record of repurposing disused historic buildings in the county.

It proposes reopening several blocked-up windows including the large central window which gives onto Wilton Road.

Their application claims the building is poorly suited to community use given the absence of nearby parking, which “was one of the factors that led to the former occupiers vacating”.

The town is anyway “relatively well supplied with community facilities”, it adds.

The plan would go towards meeting demand for “town-centre apartment accommodation for young professionals and down-sizers”, which local estate agents have confirmed there is a high demand for.

Comments on the application, numbered 233198, can be made until November 30.