Plans have been submitted to Darlington Borough Council for the erection of single storey garden room/cafe with a terraced area incorporating ramped and stepped access, refurbishment of a canopied walkway to include a section of dual-pitched slated roof and new roof to the existing toilet block, at Elm Ridge Methodist Church, in Carmel Road South, Darlington.

The extension is designed as a single-storey attachment to the southeast corner of the main church building, incorporating the existing toilets which are to be refurbished, together with the retained accessible toilet.

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An enhanced entrance foyer is also included to provide a more visible welcome to what was formally the rear semi-secluded entry to this end of the building.

The existing Croft Room is to be converted into a full catering standard kitchen, with an attached separate servery for independent tea/coffee light snack provision.

The addition of a garden room cafe extension was first contemplated in the 1990s to improve opportunities for socialising amongst users of the premises and developing a greater sense of community.