A GRADE-LISTED building and place of worship in modern Hartlepool’s most historic district could be turned into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

Hartlepool Borough Council’s planning committee will decide whether to grant permission for Constitutional Club on Whitby Street in the Church Street Conservation Area.

In 2009 permission was granted to turn the 1906, Grade II-building into a Pentecostal Church place of worship but also a youth club, bookshop and café.

But since then the Elim Pentecostal Church has begun running the place as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. Permission for the new use was not granted and now the church is making a retrospective application to continue running the drugs centre.

Alterations to the building are also proposed, including creating a reception area, kitchen, dining area, shower room, toilets and 15 bedrooms.

The church area within the Northern Renaissance-style building already provides a minimum of three staff at 24 hours a day and existing occupants have their own bedrooms. If permission is granted there will be an overall increase of eight bedrooms.

Only two objections from neighbours have been made with concerns that the proposal will make it harder to encourage new businesses to the area raised.

Council officers have also raised the issue that the Church Street Conservation Area, which contains a number of listed buildings and is undergoing a number of multi-million pound regeneration projects including improvements to Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD).

The authority’s HBC Regeneration team have been consulted and raised concerns that the centre could damage the strategy.

The HBC Regeneration team officer said: “I note that this is a retrospective application and there is an existing use of the building as a rehabilitation centre…There is, however, a potential conflict with the regeneration strategy for the area, so it’s important to ensure that any potential adverse impacts on the surrounding area are managed and minimised."

HBC Heritage noted the area had important Victorian and Edwardian architecture and said that; "the conservation of the area is considered to be at risk under the criteria used by Historic England to assess heritage at risk." However overall the heritage team considered the proposal will not significantly impact on the building.

Cleveland Police officers have monitored the rehabilitation centre for 12 months but found; "nothing of serious concern."

Planning officers have recommended approval and the application will be discussed at the Civic Centre at 10am on Wednesday.