Victorian outrage sends church scheme to court

The Diocese of Chichester is holding a consistory court, overseen by a judge, to decide whether the proposals for St Margaret's Church, Angmering, should be allowed to go ahead, in the face of opposition from conservation group the Victorian Society.

St Margaret's was given planning permission by Arun District Council 14 months ago, and work should have started on the scheme, including extensions, a new entrance and removal of the pews, last autumn.

However, as the church is a listed building, special permission, known as a "faculty", was also needed from the diocese, which carried out a consultation, prompting the Victorian Society objection.

The society claims the scheme "would be very damaging to the outstanding national significance of St Margaret's", which it said was among the top seven per cent of buildings in the country.

The Rev Mark Standen, rector of St Margaret's, said delays caused by the society's objection and expenses arising from the court hearing, had pushed the cost of the project up from the original 750,000 to a revised 950,000, but, thanks to the generosity of the church's 390 members, that sum was covered.

Writing in the parish magazine, Mr Standen, a barrister before he trained for the ministry, said he was optimistic about the outcome of the hearing.

"It is a brave (or a foolish!) person who predicts the outcome of any legal case!," he said.

"Nevertheless, I think that our chances are good for the reasons we've been advancing over the last two years.

"St Margaret's Church was last remodelled in the 1850s to serve the needs of a village of approximately 1,000 people.

"Time has moved on '“ the village is different, styles of worship have changed and the church needs to be more proactive in reaching people than was the case 150 years ago.

"The church has a responsibility as a place of 'worship and mission', and we feel that the changes we're proposing will help us to discharge that responsibility more faithfully."

He pointed out only a handful of people had raised objections when the church held its own consultation on the plans, and told the Gazette it was "little short of a miracle" that the money had been raised in a year '“ "a further sign that God's hand is over the project".

The consistory court is scheduled for two days, over Thursday and Friday next week, from 10.30am to 4pm, in the church.

Anyone can attend, but it's likely that only the Victorian Society and the church itself will be allowed to speak.