Council give go-ahead to works to turn old Milford Church into community centre

Planning permission has been granted for a former church in Milford to be turned into a community centre.

Milford and District Resource Centre (MDRC) have been given conditional permission for the redevelopment works at the old Reformed Presbyterian Church on the Kilmacrennan Road.

MDRC received the building in late 2022 from the Reformed Presbyterian congregation in the town.

They sought permission for a change of use from a former church to a community centre. The works are to include renovations and alterations to the existing building and the construction of a single-storey glazed extension to the rear to provide a new link to the kitchen.

The Church was initially built in 1837 and the building includes several rooms including the main Church hall, an activity hall, a kitchen, bathrooms and storage.

A private donation was made to the project, now going under the name of the Gallowglass Community Centre, earlier this year. The generous donation saw €200,000 given to the project.

Declan Meehan, the Manager of the MDRC - who has since been elected as a County Councillor - hailed the substantial donation at the time, saying it would allow key repairs including the roof, and development works to enlarge.

Donegal County Council have granted planning permission for the works subject to seven conditions.

They include that no parking of vehicles associated with the community centre shall be permitted along the roadside frontage of the subject site.

Read next: General Election: Charles Ward won’t be 'shrinking violent’ in Dáil

No signs, symbols or other means of advertisement shall to erected or posted on site without prior written agreement of the planning authority and in any event signage shall not be in the form of plastic, internally illuminated, box facia signs or similar.

All external finishes are to match that of the existing building on site unless otherwise agreed by the planning authority in writing.