Will House become a real house?

Millennium House in Biggleswade – which once catered for organisations like the Biggleswade History Society and the Royal Naval Association – is now in the process of being sold.

Steve Brown has submitted a planning application to Central Beds Council to convert the Shortmead Street building into a residential property.

The Biggleswade and District United Services Association – which owned the Shortmead Street building for more than a decade – had to close Millennium House in June last year due to an ongoing lack of funds.

The application is for change of use only so no extensions will be added and no changes are proposed to the building’s exterior.

Internally changes to the existing layout would also be minimal.

The building – which stands on the corner of Shortmead Street and Ivel Bury – is surrounded by residential properties so the council believes the change would not be out of character with the area.

To the rear of the building there is currently a hard-standing area used for parking, and it is expected that this would become a garden.

Four parking spaces are also proposed on the existing area for parking by the side of the building.

The application was discussed by members of Biggleswade Town Council at a meeting on Tuesday (January 22), where it was broadly welcomed.

Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Madeline Russell said: “This is already an area where there are quite a lot of residential properties so we can’t see any reasons for opposing the application.”

Writing on the Biggleswade Chronicle Facebook page some readers were sceptical about a possible change of use.

Joanne Fisher said: “No more houses – kids need things to do. Turn it into something we can use.”