A CHURCH community hall - which hosts popular activities and events - is set to be demolished and replaced with a new building.

The hall next to St Luke's Church on Burton Stone Lane hosts a range of activities including the Joyful Connections Community Cafe, Tuesday Club and Luke’s Larder, as well as for inexpensive local private hire.

But a planning statement in the application, from the church, says the building requires increasing amounts of maintenance and does not have all the facilities it needs.

The application says: "A feasibility study was undertaken which compared the benefits of refurbishment against replacement of the existing structure.

"It was concluded that demolition and replacement of the existing hall is the better value option.

"The new facility will enable a wider range of activities such as a waste food project involving catering, drop-in advice sessions and surgeries, meetings and conferences, and provide a much enhanced local private hire venue suitable for audio/ visual events.

"We believe this will have a positive impact locally by encouraging community engagement and strengthening social networks."

Under the plans a similar but slightly larger building will be built where the current hall stands.

The report says: "St Luke's church was designed by York architectWalter Brierley. The foundation stone for the east end of the building which included the sanctuary, chancel, side chapels and vestries was laid in 1900 and this first phase was completed by 1905.

"The foundation stone for the remainder of the church was laid in 1910, but there were insufficient funds to complete the building to its original design."