Application Number:19/P0205                  Ward: Abbey

Officer Recommendation: GRANT Variation of condition

PAC Resolved to Refuse the Variation in Conditions for 19/P0205.

The reasons for refusal will be detailed in the Minutes of the Meeting

Proposal: Application To Vary Condition 8 (Hours Of Operation) In LBM Planning Permission 17/P2668, Relating to alterations and extensions to existing Merton Hall building including partial demolition of the single storey hall, and alterations and refurbishment to the retained main two storey building and erection of a new worship hall, cafe, foyer and meeting/group rooms for use of by Elim Pentecostal Church.

Variation proposed To Condition 8: To (Extend use of Church beyond 10pm to 10.30pm Monday to Sunday and beyond that time on no more than 10 separate occasions a year. No Church service or similar activity shall take place after 10pm Mondays To Sundays. These restrictions would not apply to administrative use including small meetings of no more than 15 Persons)

The Committee noted the officer’s report and presentation and additional information in the Supplementary agenda.

The Committee received verbal presentations from two objectors who made points including:

·         The current opening hours are a vital safeguard to residents

·         Merton Hall is surrounded by family homes, it is 15m away from children’s’ bedrooms.

·         The roof  ventilation system will generate noise.

·         Elim Church has been gifted the freehold of Merton Hall

·         It is unreasonable that Elim Church have made this application before they have even taken possession of the new building. The extra noise levels, sound protection, disturbance and pollution have not been tested.

·         Police have been called 18 times in a year to Elim Church at the current site in High Path

·         If Elim had any respect for local residents they would stick to a 9pm finish time

The Committee received a verbal presentation from the Applicant’s representative who made points including:

·         I am a Church Elder, I am responsible for the music in the Church and I live very close to Merton Hall. I would not be happy to think that children were having their sleep disturbed.

·         It is common practice to turn off mechanical plant so that it does not cause a disturbance

·         This application is about the Logistics of living in London. The Church needs to open at times suitable for us to attend after work, and to fit in the additional use of the building by other the Sri Lankan and Brazilian congregations we host. The building will also be used by the Pelham School Community Choir, and Merton’s food bank

·         The building will be available for the use of other community groups – its value as an asset is only limited by what people ask for.

·         The building cannot brought into operation without sensible functioning arrangements that allow for sensible practical logistics

The Committee received a verbal presentation from Ward Councillor Nigel Benbow who made points including:

·         I am calling for this application to be rejected

·         The Voices of Abbey Ward residents must be heard. Over 200 objections have been made to this application

·         The local police are opposed to this application

·         This is a quiet residential area, there are no other noisy buildings on this part of Kingston Road that are open seven nights a week

·         Elim Church have had noise issues, and the police called, to their current location on High Path

·         Elim Church were re located to High Path, from a building close to Kingston Road, because of parking problems.

The Building and Development Control Manager reminded the Committee that this application was about extending the opening hours and the procurement and history of the site was not relevant.

In reply to Members Questions, the Building and Development Control Manager made points including:

·         Hours can be adjusted as an application progresses through the planning system. The application before you tonight is for an extra ½ hour opening until 10.30pm each night.

·         The original application, granted in September 2017, allowed for opening until 10pm. The application before you tonight is an amendment to an amendment, the original amendment was for an extra hours opening until 11pm each night. The Police were concerned about the 11pm extension but are not concerned about the 10.30 extension.

·         The Application before you tonight also contains additional late opening on up to 10 separate events per year. This application is a mechanism to do away with the Church having to apply separately for a change of hours for each of these events.

·         Conditions 9,10 and 11 of the original application cover noise control Music will be played at the back of the hall. It is the noise level at the boundaries that is important, not the noise level in the hall. The Church will have to design and operate suitable sound proofing and noise management to prevent noise disturbances to neighbours.

Members made comments including:

·         Other Elim Churches do not open this late

·         Lots of assumptions have been made about the policing of this amendment; that activities will stop at 10pm, that meetings will have less than 15 people attending, that the soundproofing will be adequate, that people will disperse quietly at the right time. But we are not able to police this, and this is a quiet residential area. This application is too vague about these assumptions.

·         The potential for noise disturbance is not just the music in the hall, it is also from people leaving the Church, having conversations in the street and returning to their cars

·         Don’t understand the logistical need for late meetings, we started at 7.15 tonight and many of us work in London

·         The Church needs to respect its neighbours

RESOLVED

The Committee voted unanimously to

1.    REFUSE the variation to conditions for the following reasons:

·         The additional operating hours will cause a Disturbance to Neighbours in terms of noise and amenity

·         The application was contrary to policies DMD2 and DMEP2

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2.    DELEGATE to the Director of Environment & Regeneration the authority to make any appropriate amendments in the context of the above to the wording of the grounds of refusal including references to appropriate policies