Church's cinema conversion plan rejected in favour of an alternative scheme

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) lost its appeal against an initial decision of the London Borough of Waltham Forest to refuse a number of planning applications to allow the redevelopment of the presently unoccupied Grade II listed cinema to allow religious, community/assembly, cafe and retail uses.

The Secretary of State's decision letter said that the cinema should be re-used to boost regeneration in the area and said that a scheme put forward by Waltham Forest Cinema Trust (WFCT) was preferable.

The scheme put forward by WFCT was preferred by the Secretary of State as it was thought it was a better option for both the Grade II listed building and the local area. That scheme proposed that the building should be used as a general entertainment venue with comedy, theatre and a cinema.

Whilst all parties agreed that a pure cinema use was not a viable option ultimately it was considered that the scheme put forward by WFCT would be further in line with the area's core strategy. The scheme also demonstrated it had the potential to use the cinema in a way which would have greater economic and regenerative benefits to achieve a closer conformity with the development plan and development framework. Considerable weight was also given to the synergy between the WFCT proposal and proposals for a nearby council supported scheme for the regeneration of the town centre.

The Secretary of State concluded that the significance of the building's listed status was outweighed by the proposed public benefits including securing some use as a cinema.

"The secretary of state recognises the significant social benefits and limited regeneration benefits which either of the appeal schemes before him would bring to the town centre and the borough as a whole, that they would be in accordance with a number of development plan policies and would cause less than substantial harm to the building itself," said the decision letter.

"Nevertheless, he does not consider that they have been shown to represent the optimum viable use for the building. He concludes that a scheme along the lines of that being developed by the WFCT would also be in accordance with the core strategy and has been shown to have the potential to utilise the Granada Cinema building in a way which would have greater economic and regenerative benefits, including forming a symbiotic relationship with the Arcade scheme, while also exploiting more fully the iconic character of the building," it said.