A historic former church in Marlow is set to be turned into a luxury hairdressers after new plans were given the green light, despite concerns about parking.

The 19th Century, Grade II-listed Old Trinity Church, in Wethered Road, previously known as the Church of the Holy Trinity, was converted into offices in 1988.

Open Architecture put the plans together for the conversion, saying the design would “look to retain the charm and details” of the existing church building from the outside while making changes inside to “serve the new purpose” and “create spaces that work with the building”.

The existing car park, with four spaces, will stay the same with one of the spaces being turned into a disabled space, and will be reserved for staff parking.

Customers will be urged to use the town’s car parks close to the site and have the cost of their parking reimbursed by the salon.

But objecting to the plans, resident Amy Wheeler wrote that allowing the change of use would not only put a “ridiculous amount of pressure” on the parking situation from potential clients, but also the staff who work there.

She wrote: “I am a local resident who already finds parking in Marlow an absolute nightmare. All the car parks in town are already full most days which then forces drivers who come to Marlow to park on the surrounding residential streets – it’s getting beyond a joke.”

And Marlow Town Council also objected to the change “due to the lack of parking capacity” in the town.

But the planning officer did not think there would be an issue with the amount of parking provided, writing in their notes: “Although the proposed use, like the existing, would be deficient in on-street parking given that the hairdressers is not in a location where it is likely to attract passing trade and will most likely operate an appointment-only service…it is considered that the proposal raises no issues of highway safety or capacity, and as a town centre site this level of parking is considered acceptable in the interests of finding a new use for what is already an attractive and worthy listed building.”

And Open Architecture said the scheme would encourage customers to use town centre parking as part of a “multi-trip visit linking with other town centre services and functions”.

The disused church, opposite the Holy Trinity Church of England School, is believed to have been opened in 1852 and became Grade II-listed in 1974.