MORE than 1,300 people have signed a petition calling for a former cinema to return to a town centre, writes Kate Mead.
Crystal Palace residents are urging the council to return the former Gala bingo club, in Church Road, to its original use of a cinema.
Evangelical church the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) bought the site on June 30 but residents intend to fight the proposal to turn it a place of worship.
The building currently has ‘Assembly and Leisure’ classification but the KICC lodged an application with Bromley council to change it to use for public worship.
Residents and traders have collected hundreds of signatures on their petition and the Cinema for Crystal Palace group on Facebook has attracted more than 600 members.
The Crystal Palace Triangle Planning Group, which was set up to oppose inappropriate development in the area, has promised that it will organise protests against the proposed church.
Spokesperson for the group Annabel Sidney said: “A church will remove a prime community venue. Congregations of potentially up to 1,400 will increase congestion and could take take all our parking. This will discourage people from shopping in the area and add absolutely nothing to the area’s economic viability. A cinema would bring many benefits to the area – employment, trade and community use.”
The venue started life as the Rialto cinema before it became the Granada which closed in 1968. City Screen, the company behind Ritzy Brixton and the Clapham Picture House, had made an offer for the site in a but were beaten by KICC in the sealed bids auction.
Ms Sidney added: “The majority of people who came to our first meeting have never got involved in any sort of campaign before. This has really touched a local nerve.”
A spokesman for Bromley council said an application to change the use of the building had not yet been received but when it was a consultation would take place. Liberal Democrat councillor John Canvin, said that people in his ward are concerned about the increase in traffic to the area due to limited parking, adding: “There is very strong feeling against it.
“It is a loss of a public building which would be available for all denominations. To put a church there would restrict it to people of a certain theological denomination and would attract others from outside the area.”
A spokesman for KICC told reporters that the site will be used for church services on Sunday mornings and evenings and Tuesday evenings.
It is also believed that the site will be open during the week for youth clubs, counselling, a book shop and café.
Pastor Dipo Oluyomi of the KICC said: “All our church members are really looking forward to working with the community to contribute to the regeneration of Church Road. We definitely appreciate people’s opinions. However, we feel they need to know us first for there to be any judgement as to who they think we are.”
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Sounds like pure greed to me – Shame on Bromley Council…
If they’re priority is the highest bid, then how will that extra cash be directly fed back into the local community. I doubt it will be, in which case how can they justify making the highest bid the deciding factor in who to sell the site to. Surely a council’s responsibility is to it’s residents.
We should see a breakdown of exactly where the money received for the sale will be going. If that happened then i i wouldn’t be surprised if Bromley suddenly lost interest in pursuing the application…
Please return this site to what it was intended to be. It is a fantastic building that would be embraced by the local community. I’m sorry but who do these Churches think they are? They are an absolute minority in terms of people in the community. I’m fed up with getting this kind of thing rammed down my throat.
Bromley council, please do the right thing for the up and coming Crystal Palace area and it’s fantastic array of residents.
A cinema here would inject a new lease of life into the Church Road area. How would a Evangelist Church do that. It will isolate them and the residents and I’m positive it will cause on going trouble and tension through the years.
Let us have something worthwhile in the area. it could be the catylist for greater things!
I think the pastor is right, we do need to know more about the KICC to see how it will work with the community.
For instance, there are a significant number of gay people in Crystal Palace – it would be interesting if the KICC could let the community know whether or not they would be welcome in the premises at 25 Church Road when the KICC starts operating from there. Considering that the controversial leader of the KICC, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, was a signatory to a letter calling for restrictions on equality legislation for gay people, it would be nice if the KICC could clarify their position.
Crystal Palace recently hosted a Darwin Symposium and guest speakers attended to discuss the work of Charles Darwin. It would be interesting if the KICC could let the local community know that equal respect will be paid to science by the KICC. This is especially important as the KICC claims to offer educational support for young people and so local parents really need to know if the KICC will be teaching children that the world is 4,500,000,000 years old or 6,000.