News

Church hall rebuild gets green light despite council planning concerns

Monken Hadley Church deemed the ground the building stood on to not be “sound enough” or “safe enough” for restoration, reports Grave Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for the rebuild (left, credit Alan Cox Associates) and the existing church hall (right)

A controversial application to demolish a church hall in Barnet has been given the go ahead despite planning officers warning it will cause “substantial harm” to a listed building.

The Monken Hadley Church building’s owner, the Parish Church Committee of Monken Hadley, initially wanted to restore the hall which was viewed as “not fit for purpose” but found that the ground it stood on was “not sound enough” or “safe enough” for restoration, which included adding an extension.

The owners therefore decided it was more viable for the building to be demolished and rebuilt. 

During a planning committee meeting yesterday (Wednesday 30th) planning officer Heidi Euzger said the demolition would result in “substantial harm” to a non-designated heritage asset and a “high level of harm” to the building’s setting. 

The proposed replacement would be “materially larger”, result in an “unbalanced design”, and was an “inappropriate development” for Green Belt land.

However the committee, along with High Barnet ward councillor Emma Whysall, supported demolition on the grounds the community benefit of a new church hall outweighed the harms listed in the report. 

At the previous committee meeting on 9th October, architect and planning consultant Alan Cox said opposition to the application from officers was expected but explained that since he had calculated the cost to restore the building would “go up” if attempted, demolition and rebuilding was “more viable”. 

During yesterday’s meeting, Cllr Whysall reiterated: “I know from conversations that I’ve had with the church hall committee and information that’s been provided to me in the past that the cost of rebuilding what is already there would be roughly twice what is estimated for demolishing and building anew.

“Obivously building anew would allow them [the developer] to slightly move it off the unsafe ground that is underneath part of the building which is making the foundations unstable.

“This would help secure the building for the future.”

In opposition, one local resident Guy Braithwaite who was not present had a letter read out to the committee. He wrote: “It is my view and that of the planning officer that the case is not made that the present building could not be stabilised and repaired, thereby enabling it to be extended and refitted for modern use.

“In the absence of an options appraisal assessing the feasibility, and the cost of remedial work as opposed to rebuilding, the case for demolition is not made.”

Since the last meeting, Guy said he’d been invited to meet with the applicant on the church hall site to “discuss proposals” but this was yet to happen. He added: “I do look forward to any possibility of finding a better outcome than the demolition of a locally listed building.”

The plan to rebuild the church hall also received 32 letters of support.

Following discussions, the committee voted four against the officer’s recommendation to refuse and one in favour, meaning the demolition and rebuild will go ahead.


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