Plans to turn 1920s cinema into church approved

Plans to convert a former 1920s cinema in Surrey into a modern church venue have been approved.

Elmbridge Borough Council sold Weybridge Hall to Equippers Church for £1.2m in November.

The Church Street venue, which has been empty since 2014, includes a vacant shop and community hall on the ground floor and a vacant four-bedroom flat across the second and third floors.

of the council approved an application to turn it into a community facility, primarily for religious gatherings on Tuesday, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Equippers Church hopes to revamp the venue into an auditorium of around 400 seats, with kitchen space near the foyer.

The proposals also include additional meeting rooms on the first, second and third floors for community and religious use.

Planning permission had previously been granted to turn the site into a cinema with flats above it, but the council said the development "never materialised".

Speaking on behalf of residents on Minorca Road running directly beside the hall, Kath Wallace said the proposal will significantly and negatively impact on residents from a noise disturbance, parking and traffic perspective.

Officers said noise conditions have been recommended as the sound insulation was labelled as inadequate to modern standards.

Paul Utley, speaking for the applicant, said it is "really important to us to be good neighbours" and "be an asset to the community".

Councillor Judy Sarsbury says the high street "needs rejuvenation" and that Weybridge "needs the building to come alive again" to attract more people.

The scheme received around 32 letters of objection, with those against arguing it should be a space that benefits the whole of Weybridge or should be used as a theatre of cinema.

No theatre or performing arts group had offered to buy the building, the council said.

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