Twydall church “saved” … for now

An “iconic” church building ruled unsustainable by the church community and its vicar has been “saved” from demolition by Medway Council’s Development Control Committee.

The Holy Trinity Church at the south of Twydall Green was considered for demolition under planning application MC/09/1151, but the committee of councillors decided that the building, along with the church hall, should stay.

It means that the church community must continue to struggle indefinitely to try to meet the costs of maintaining the church building.

The main issue raised by councillors in approving the refusal?recommendation?of the council’s planning officers, including the planning manager Dave Harris who confessed to loving the building, was the small number of parking spaces included in the proposals for homes, with 11 parking spaces for 23 homes.

However, councillors hinted that other reasons included in the report by the council planning officers could be disregarded if parking provisions were altered in a future planning application – including, primarily, the loss of the iconic church building.

Independent Councillor Ian Burt admitted that he was reluctant to refuse the application, whilst Liberal Democrat Councillor Maureen Ruparel, a Twydall resident, sympathised with the church’s plight, but expressed concerns over the parking proposals.

The more recent planning application, in relation to the listed building status, has yet to be decided, but looks unlikely to succeed based upon last Wednesday’s decision.

However, this is only a setback for the church community, and there are several more options open to them, including appealing the decision or resubmitting an altered application.