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St Mark’s is ‘vital for community’
CAMPAIGNERS battling to save St Mark’s church from being turned into a health spa have hit out at the Diocese after it emerged the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, is meeting with Treasury Minister Yvette Cooper to discuss ways of funding churches for community use.
The meeting comes in the week the campaign, headed by Lady Sainsbury, waits to hear whether the planning committee will approve the controversial application by George Hammer.
Until last month when it was closed for good, the historic Grade I-listed church had been a vibrant community hub, housing a 200-strong congregation and holding a number of youth groups credited with turning around the lives of wayward teenagers.
A Diocese spokesman told the West End Extra the fate of the church and the meeting were unrelated.
Kirk Mitchell from the Save St Mark’s campaign said: “It’s a cruel irony because what kind of community use is a health spa? It’s commercial vampirism and it will suck the blood out of the community. We don’t have another community centre in north Mayfair and I just hope the planning department throw it out.”
The meeting of Westminster’s planning applications sub-committee will be held on Thursday night at City Hall in Victoria Street. |
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