Plans to demolish the Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd at Batheaston and build a terrace of four houses have finally won planning permission.
The church of the Good Shepherd in Batheaston | Image © Google Street View / Google 2025
The church is a rare example of Brutalist architecture in the Bath area. Also known as the Batheaston Mass Centre, it closed during the pandemic.
With declining numbers attending mass, it was judged to not be viable to reopen.
Bath & North East Somerset Council identified it as a “non-designated heritage asset” following the initial planning application in 2023.
But Historic England dismissed two requests to add the building to its statutory list of designated heritage assets, concluding “it falls short of the level of interest required for it to be listed in the national context”.
Two rounds of consultation took place, one for the initial plans and one for the revised plans, which included a reduction in the height, scale and appearance of the houses and fewer parking spaces.
In total, 120 objections were received to Clifton Diocese’s plans. There was also one comment of support.
Both the planning committee chair Councillor Tim Ball and vice chair Councillor Paul Crossley agreed the decision could be delegated to planning officers and the proposals have been approved.
