PLANS for the refurbishment of the ballroom at Stretford Public Hall have been given the green light.

The Friends of Stretford Public Hall group submitted an application to develop the two store rooms to three uni-sex toilets and a new accessible toilet and store room.

Also in the ballroom, there were plans to demolish the corridors wall and create a new opening on the western end of the south walls.

In the design and access statement, it said: “The proposals associated with this application for listed building consent form part of a wider masterplan to ensure that the building and it’s fabric is restored, enhanced and protected.

“It is intended that this phase of the masterplan ensures that the ballroom, the principal space within Stretford Public Hall, can facilitate events and activities for which it was designed, whilst sensitively balancing these uses with the requirements of the present day.”

Also among the plan includes reinstating the principal staircase landing opening.

It is part of the seven-part plan by Buttress architects and Friends of Stretford Public Hall group.

The hall slowly fell into disrepair, despite being designated a grade II listed structure in 1987, until Trafford Council refurbished and converted the hall to serve as council offices in the mid-1990s. It was re-opened in 1997, once again named Stretford Public Hall.

They are looking to conservation work to ensure that the historic fabric of the building does not progressively deteriorate, to improve visitor experience, and improve and increase the provision of sanitary facilities within the building.

In the design and access statement it added they wanted to ensure any new facilities are ‘accessible to all and raise the profile of Stretford Public Hall and secure a sustainable future for the hall’.