PLANS to build a community hall and rebuild a pre-school nursery at a Baildon church have been approved.

The Marley Hut, which is more than 40 years old, at Baildon Methodist Church in Newton Way will be demolished to make way for a two-storey building.

The ground floor will be used by the children’s nursery and there will be access to a secure outdoor area.

On the first floor there will be a community hall, a kitchen and toilets.

Baildon Village Pre-School nursery currently uses the Marley Hut building, which it rents from the church.

An area between the church and Wesley Hall will also be refurbished and extended to allow the expansion of Wesleys Cafe which will be relocated. The majority of the increased space to be occupied by the cafe will be on an external raised patio which is rarely used.

The roof space above the enlarged cafe will also include a storage

area.

The remaining works feature internal alterations to Wesley Hall, including creating modern toilets, additional/multi-purpose meeting rooms and other associated ancillary accommodation.

The church will phase the works to suit its finances as it is self-funding the project through donations.

The work, which is hoped to be completed next summer, will start with the redevelopment of the Marley Hut and some small internal alterations to its toilets.

Baildon Village Pre-School nursery has 45 children on its roll who are aged between two and four and it is looking to expand that number under the refurbishment plans.

Sarah Scholefield, the site’s pre-school leader, said the rebuilding of the premises was long overdue and would be a further benefit for the business.

She said: “We are all really excited about it. We have been waiting for it for a long time. The building desperately needs replacing.

“It will also give us the chance to expand our hours.

“At the moment we are just open mornings and the odd afternoon, but we will be able to open every weekday afternoon.”

But she added it would be emotional to see the existing building demolished.

She said: “The building is around 40 years old. It will be sad to see Marley Hut go though.

“It will be bigger than we have now and it means we will be able to take on extra children.”

The proposal, submitted in May, also includes alterations to external works, access and parking layout. The pedestrian and vehicular access will also remain unchanged by the proposal.

The site has eight staff, including assistants and a special needs co-ordinator.

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The new building is a further step forward for Baildon Village Pre-School after it was rated as being ‘good’ in every category by inspectors this year.

In a report published in May, Ofsted said it was a “highly stimulating learning environment” and that partnerships with parents were strong.

The staff were also praised for being “very good” role models.