Views voiced over St Pancras Church renovation plans in Chichester

The renovation proposals have been designed to meet the ‘spatial needs of the thriving worshipping congregation’ and include a new extension to the church and the refurbishment and extension of number 1 and 2 St Pancras, the 1960s building directly next to the Church.

Following the submission of the plans, local residents and Chichester City Council have voiced their opinion on the proposed works to Chichester District Council's planning department.

Chichester City Council said: “No objection subject to the comments of the Conservation Officer. It is recommended that a suitable condition is applied controlling the use of the rooftop garden in order to protect the amenity of the surrounding residents.”

Chichester Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CCAAC), in a statement, also stated that they had no objections to the proposed plans.

John Donaldson spoke of his approval of the proposed plans.

He said: “Whilst broadly supportive of this application, I would ask for the following concerns to be taken into account:

“The new structure at ground level will be highly visible to the public. Access should therefore be provided to facilitate ease of cleaning and maintenance of the new structure, in particular the curved glulam columns, all roofing and windows in order to maintain good appearance.

“Access and parking of all vehicles should be totally prohibited in the Church Square, apart from Emergency vehicles on an ongoing basis. Additional bollards and signage should be put in place to prevent misuse (prevalent at present), further damage to paving, drain covers and buildings as well as the safety of pedestrians.

However, not everyone has supported the proposed works.

A spokesperson for Art for All said: “We wanted to say that we were concerned about the building works and that they would interfere in our trade.

"Also we are wanting to submit our own application to erect an awning on our shopfront and do not want this impeded by the closeness of the building.”

To view the application, visit Chichester District Council’s planning portal with the reference 22/02521/FUL.