Former Methodist chapel to be converted into Cambridgeshire village’s first shop

The shop will offer food and household items along with a post office and laundry services

A former Methodist chapel will be converted to make way for a village’s first shop. Baston Shop Ltd applied to Peterborough City Council to convert the former Ailsworth Chapel into a community shop.

Ailsworth and neighbouring village Castor currently do not have a shop. The most recent shop the villages had was The Paper Shop, which closed in May 2025. The chapel on Main Street was built in 1860 and has not been used since 2022.

A planning statement said: “The proposal secures the long-term use and revitalisation of a valued community asset.” The shop will “offer a range of food, household items and other necessities, along with a post office and laundry services”.

The planning document added: “Public support for the proposal is positive, far outweighing any concerns around parking, which previously blighted an application for residential conversion at the site.”

According to the now-approved plans, it is suggested the shop will three part-time staff members. It is expected to open seven days a week between 7am and 8pm. The applicant also sought approval to build a flat at the back of the property.

The applicant added: “The vacant chapel will provide an excellent location for a community shop as it is centrally sited in Ailsworth and also offers ease of access for Castor residents.”

No dedicated car parking was proposed for the site but five cycle spaces were included in the plans. Ailsworth Parish Council (APC) recognised there was “without doubt” a need for a local shop in the village, but it objected to the plans because of concerns about the impact on parking and road safety.

A spokesperson for the parish council said: “Road safety concerns have been raised by APC to the Highways Department on a number of occasions over the years, with particular reference to dangerous parking on corners around Helpston Road, Maffitt Road and Main Street. The information provided in the application does not provide adequate mitigation for adding to these safety concerns.”

One resident raised a similar concern. They said: “Parking is severely restricted and the number of cars present during daytime makes driving through Main Street difficult at any time of day, and especially during the evenings and weekends. A shop operating from 7 am to 8 pm would only serve to make this much worse.”