A Catholic church has been granted planning permission to demolish its old church hall and build a new one on the same spot in Brighton.
The new three-storey Milton Road Community Centre will replace the existing two-storey premises in Milton Road, on the corner of Elm Grove, diagonally opposite St Joseph’s Church.
The scheme was approved by Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee in a meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Wednesday 6 March).
The church said that the new building would be a “hub for our local community” and the number of full-time staff would go up from one to three.
The new building has been designed with spaces for different activities including a coffee lounge, meeting rooms and a hall for larger groups and events.
It is also expected to become a hub for Catholic student activity, something that is currently based by Falmer Railway Station.
The plans for the new building showed stone cladding on the ground floor exterior which drew a comparison with the stone-clad St Joseph’s Church across the road.
Photo: St Joseph's Church Hall image from Lee Evans Partnership
Labour councillor Joy Robinson was the only councillor to vote against the application. She said:
“I’m really not happy with this design.
“It’s pretty awful. I’m really not happy with the stone cladding. It’s just horrible. It’ll be a blight on the area, frankly.”
Labour councillor Julie Cattell said that the use of “through render” – where the colour was included in the mix – would be unsuitable for Brighton’s coastal climate because it was “not properly breathable”.
Councillor Cattell said that the proposed building’s stone cladding was similar to that on the grade II* listed St Joseph’s Church over the road.
She said:
“Every church is out of context with its surroundings. Looking at a close-up of the church, it is being replicated with modern materials.
“The existing (church hall) building is horrible. It has no frontage. It looks like a factory or workshop. Then you’ve got something much more exciting and interesting, making use of the corner.”
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey said that he was glad that the building would be a community facility but he was not a fan of the design.
Councillor Earthy said:
“To me, it looks absolutely hideous, completely out of keeping with the rest of the area. But that’s what we have.
“I’m also concerned about the rendering as in my ward that form of rendering in the sea air has become a catastrophe.”
The site of the church hall was once St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School – from 1879 until it moved to Davey Drive, in Hollingdean, in 1956.
The previous building, which housed the school, had formerly served as a church for Catholic soldiers.
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