Visitors to hall set to outnumber residents (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Visitors to hall set to outnumber residents

COTSWOLD District Council is set to rule on controversial plans for a Plymouth Brethren Church meeting hall in Longborough.

Last month more than 80 villagers packed a parish council meeting to express concern at the plans for the 1,319sq metre building, which would replace an existing hall in Well Lane, Stow.

The parish council has recommended that the district's planning committee refuse the application on the grounds of loss of employment land, traffic and possible future expansion.

The hall would be used by up to 230 members of the Christian movement at any one time, with services expected several times each week.

Geoff Gregg, clerk to Longborough Parish Council, said: "From the information given to us it would appear that five or six times a week the attendance at the proposed hall could be almost up to the total population of the village and perhaps on special occasions exceed it."

He added that such numbers could cause traffic problems and permanently alter the character of Longborough.

Morgan Cole, agent for the Brethren's Stow Room Trust, said the hall would attract visitors from as far away as Oxford, Bristol, Birmingham, Swindon and Coventry. "Although the capacity of the meeting room at Well Lane is over 300, this is no longer sufficient to accommodate the special meetings that the Stow Brethren would like to host.

"The steady growth of the Brethren within the local area indicates that the new meeting room would also be required even for their own purposes."

He added that the old hall in Stow would be converted into housing if the Longborough development was accepted. A decision on the scheme is due to be taken by Cotswold District Council's planning committee when it next meets on Wednesday, August 11.