Today's most viewed
Church warden shows his support for new extension
A CHURCH warden has spoken out after a north Hampshire parish council objected to plans to extend a historic church.
All Saints' Church, in The Bury, Odiham, has applied to Hart District Council to build a meeting room, a choir vestry and toilets in an extension project for the south side of the Grade I listed building.
The church also wants to replace the pews with chairs, and build an office, a creche and a kitchen, replacing the galleries of seating in the west end of the church.
Church warden Martin East spoke at a meeting of the planning committee of Odiham Parish Council on Monday in support of the application, calling the extension "integral to the future of the church".
But the committee objected to the plan because of concerns over the strain on car parking in the village, and the materials used for building the extension. A decision that Mr East said was "shameful".
Speaking at the meeting, he said the church could do little to improve parking without taking drastic measures such as "Tarmacking over the church yard", which clearly wasn't an option.
He added: "How can the church possibly improve its parking unless we Tarmac over the yard?"
John Fleming, treasurer for the Parochial Church Council, also spoke at the meeting, calling on the parish council to object to the plans.
Mr Fleming said: "I think we have a duty of great care when dealing with a building in the conservation area and particularly when it's a Grade I listed building."
The planned extension to the church, which was built in the 19th century, will be two storeys high and made out of lime render.
This is not the first time the church has applied to Hart District Council for permission for an extension.
After approval from the Winchester Diocesan Advisory Committee in early 2007, the church applied to build an extension on the south side in May and December last year.
However, the district council rejected both applications, raising concerns about the materials used to build the extension.
9:27am Saturday 3rd May 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Sam on 9:12pm Mon 5 May 08
What a shame that the fabric of the building becomes more important than the job it was designed to do.
The old church building clearly needs extending and renovating if it is to meet the needs of the parish community, what a pity that the practicalities of those who use the building are overlooked in favour of the asthetics of the building.
What a shame that the fabric of the building becomes more important than the job it was designed to do.
The old church building clearly needs extending and renovating if it is to meet the needs of the parish community, what a pity that the practicalities of those who use the building are overlooked in favour of the asthetics of the building.
Posted by: Carlos Tilbury, overton on 11:25pm Mon 5 May 08
You could say that about anyone who wants to build a house or even an extention, if you turn a blind eye for one then everyone else should be allowed to do what they like.
The rules are there for a reason, I was turned down for planning reasons, and rightly so, but when it comes to Grade I listed building the rules are tighter or we loose our heritage.
As too tarmacing over the church yard, well it didnt stop Rev Cummings doing that in Overton, he moved graves and then had a bloody aweful looking hall built behind the church that is only used for church goers.
You could say that about anyone who wants to build a house or even an extention, if you turn a blind eye for one then everyone else should be allowed to do what they like.
The rules are there for a reason, I was turned down for planning reasons, and rightly so, but when it comes to Grade I listed building the rules are tighter or we loose our heritage.
As too tarmacing over the church yard, well it didnt stop Rev Cummings doing that in Overton, he moved graves and then had a bloody aweful looking hall built behind the church that is only used for church goers.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
