Objections have been made after an application was submitted to convert a listed building into flats.

The Edwardian Reading Rooms on Church Road in Bishopstoke was originally built in 1875 as a library for the local community.

In the decades since, the building maintained its community use by becoming a working men’s club in 1919 until becoming a snooker club in 1947.

The snooker club continued at the Church Road site until 2019 when operations ceased during the pandemic.

Today, the building is known locally as the Small Malthouse and is a Grade II listed building.

A planning application has now been submitted to Eastleigh Borough Council to see the building transformed into two flats.

Two two-bed flats are proposed, with one on the ground floor and one on the first floor with separate entrances.

A number of objections have been raised to the application from residents living in the Church Road area.

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The most common complaint among residents appears to be the lack of parking for a road where parking is already an issue.

Church Road resident Kerry Smart said: “The parking on Church Road is an issue already, but with potentially four more cars and zero off-road parking provided, how are any of the current residents going to park along with the volume of traffic already using this road.

“This road is already a danger due to the speed limit being 30mph and limited space to pull in and allow traffic to pass safely.”

Inside the Small Malthouse (Image: EBC) Resident Tristan Millward echoed Ms Smart’s complaints. He said: “I believe off street parking should be promoted as this road is regularly clogged up both sides with parked vehicles and would help alleviate this a small amount.”

Other residents have said that they want to see the buildings historic character maintained.

Bishopstoke resident Jon Marks said: “The conversion will forever change the interior space which is of historic interest.

“The addition of four windows, three on the front and an additional to the left side of the building will forever change the historic appearance and will be visible to all local residents.”