Dear Mr Brown,
Application for Change of Use – 25 Church Road SE19 2TE
The Crystal Palace Triangle and adjacent boroughs
I understand a planning application is to be made imminently by Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) to change the use of the former cinema at 25 Church Road SE19, to enable its use as a church. Bromley borough council will be consulting with neighbouring boroughs on this application, and I urge you to respond to this consultation on behalf of residents and traders in Lambeth, to protect the viability and vitality of this centre.
Although the application falls within the borough of Bromley, it is on the very edge of the borough and on one side of a triangular parade of shops, restaurants and other amenities which we call the Crystal Palace Triangle. As you know, that triangular parade is shared with the boroughs of Croydon and Lambeth to form a coherent retail centre, and Southwark and Lewisham also meet at Crystal Palace with many of their residents within easy walking distance of the amenities and using it as their local centre.
Until June this year, these premises were used as a bingo hall. We are very concerned about this potential loss of leisure allocation within the Crystal Palace community, brought to our attention not through any consultation by KICC but through the actions of a local resident action group called the Picture Palace Campaign, which hopes to restore the building to cinema use. There has been little or no pre-application consultation by KICC on the application or its plans to accommodate the increased traffic and parking congestion that could be caused. These are all key concerns, and explain the substantial opposition from local traders, who are concerned about the effect of customer access on one of their main trading days.
The building concerned is of a size, location and lawful use that would make it a key and integral part of the economic regeneration of the area. Retaining the building for leisure use would allow it to act as an anchor to attract further investment in the Crystal Palace Triangle and really bring forward the regeneration of the wider area.
Picturehouse Cinemas have shown interest in converting the property to a functioning cinema. They do much local cultural access work in communities, and I would point out the obvious that a cinema is open every day, and embraces the whole community. There are seven churches locally, and a lack of cinemas for miles around. There is no other building within the Crystal Palace Triangle which would be so appropriate for a cinema and which could be so used with so little modification without a change of planning use.
Croydon Council intend to prepare a master plan for the town centre in partnership with adjacent boroughs, introducing more arts-based uses to boost the centre as a tourist destination. I will be writing to you again to ask the borough councils to collaborate on the regeneration of the wider town centre; the cinema issue might just provide the impetus. I also ask if you can assist Bromley help find the church alternative suitable premises elsewhere.
The Picture Palace Campaign has been collecting support for the retention of this property in leisure use, and has amassed a petition of more than five thousand signatures from a wide area around the centre. I understand that Bromley will be consulting with all the neighbouring boroughs on the application, with a three-week response time limit. I ask you to respond to the consultation, and take into account my concerns and those of your residents and traders when making that response.
Yours sincerely,
cc Cllr Toren Smith
Chair, Planning Applications Committee
Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton, SW2 1RW
Below is a draft letter that I have agreed to write as part of the “technical planning sub group” to be used as an example letter on the web site
Bromley Planning Dept
LB Bromley
Civic Centre
Stockwell Close
Bromley
BR1 3UH
Subject: Change of use from D2 to D1
Ref: 09/02202
I am writing to you to oppose the planning application of converting the old Bingo Gala Hall at 25 Church Road from a D2 listing to a D1. Place of leisure to place of worship. I have broken this down into two sections the firs deals with reasons why there should not be a change of status from D2 to D1, the second focuses on the KICC and specific points within the planning document.
REASON TO MATAIN 25 CHURCH ROAD’S D2 STATUS
The building is the only one in the local area of its size that has D2 status, and thus the only building available for a large scale leisure facility, such as a cinema. If the listing change from a D2 is approved it then it is likely to remain a place of worship, even if the KICC fails since changing a D1 listing to a D2 is far more difficult
The Crystal Palace and surrounding area is already very well served by numerous churches of various denominations and has no real need for another place of worship in the area. If the planning application to D1 is approved it would also result in an increase in traffic in an area that already has problems dealing with local parking. The reason for this is that The KiCC group are not part of the local community but come from various parts of the south east of England and in most cases the distances involved are too far to make local transport a viable possibility. The car is the only way to get to Crystal Palace
In addition to this we have to consider the economic ramifications of the change of use. Church members are going to offer very little way of extra business to the local restaurants and boutiques and bars where as if it is kept as a place of leisure facility then residents are far more likely to be drawn to the centre. An example of this would be if the building was changed into a cinema, it is likely that those attending a film would probably go for a drink or a meal before or after the show.
KICC and the PLANNING APPLICATION
Having carried out some research on the applicant I find that the KICC web site http://www.kicc.org.uk/ seems to be at odds with the its’ description in the planning application form. On the web site it talks about churches with congregations in there thousands whilst there “Planning statement” 5.5 states that the congregation will be only 500-600 people. Further in the “Planning statement” point 2.2 the church describes itself as being interdenominational, having looked at the web site I get I get the impression that it is far closer to the evangelical style of church. Carrying on from this, the report the KICC commissioned a supplemental transport statement from Hyder. Under point 2.2.1 it states that whey will only need 36 cars to transport 500 and 50 to transport 600 people to the site. I they all coming via limousines?
The most serious point however I reserve for last. In the planning application and in all the supporting documentation there is not one mention of the KICC consulting the local community or in what ways the change of use could benefit the those people living in the area, the only statement they make regarding the locality is point 4.7 where it states it will it is conscious of the need to be a good neighbour but merely provides a list of some suggested times (see 4.2). The word community does come up many times in the document, however it is always referring to the KICC community.
Regards