Update on controversial plans to open Spiritualist church in St Annes bungalow
Spiritualists keen to have their own place of worship
Controversial proposals to open a Spiritualist church in a residential bungalow have been withdrawn.
Residents voiced fears that if the church opened at the bungalow in St Annes, it would lead to many more visitors than would be normal for a private abode, creating potential parking problems and traffic issues.
But St Annes Spiritualist Society contended there would not be as many visitors as residents feared and it would finally give the church its own place of worship.
A planning application, which went before Fylde Council’s planning committee on June 24, sought permission for a change of use from a dwellinghouse at 454 Clifton Drive North to a mixed used development comprising a place of worship and one self-contained dwelling.
The property is a detached bungalow on the corner with Todmorden Road.
At the planning meeting, a number of residents spoke out against the plans, while Val Williams, an ordained minister with the Spiritualists’ National Union, spoke in favour of the proposals.
She said the Spiritualists in Annes were currently meeting at the Assembly Rooms in Lytham because, unlike those in Fleetwood, Cleveley and Blackpool, they did not have their own church building.
Feelings were running high at the meeting and at one point the committee chairman, Cllr Gavin Harrison, ordered things to quiet down, saying: “This a planning meeting, not a piece of theatre.”
By a heavy majority, councillors voted that the application be deferred to a later, unspecified date, to allow the council to seek further information from the applicant regarding the nature of the Church activities at the building.
However, the application has now been marked as withdrawn on the planning portal. It is understood the property owner no longer wishes to pursue the arrangement.
Resident Mike Watson, who spoke at the planning meeting, said this week: “We’ve heard that the current property owner no longer wants to go forward with this.
“All the residents in this area are very relieved that this has now come to an end.”
St Annes Spiritualist Society was not available for comment.