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Church of Scientology HQ plan for Moseley approved | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Plans to convert a mansion house in Birmingham into a £6m headquarters for the Church of Scientology have been approved by the city council. | |
The church is to convert the Grade II listed Pitmaston House in Moor Green Lane, Moseley into a religious education centre and place of worship. | |
The building has been empty since the church bought it for £4.2m in 2007. | The building has been empty since the church bought it for £4.2m in 2007. |
The new building will have a 140-seat chapel, a training centre and about 40 offices, it said. | |
One wing of the building will be named the Hubbard Guidance Centre, after the science fiction author, L Ron Hubbard, who founded the church in 1952. | |
The church, which has previously denied accusations of being a cult, said its following in the West Midlands had increased by 25% in the past 10 years. | The church, which has previously denied accusations of being a cult, said its following in the West Midlands had increased by 25% in the past 10 years. |
It said about 27,000 people had taken part in religious services in the region in that time. | |
Traffic concerns | Traffic concerns |
Graeme Wilson, UK public affairs director for the church, said work would start within the next six months and finish in 2014. | |
He said: "The project will involve skilled crafts to sensitively restore marble and oak panelling, as well as structural work to repair damage to bring back the fine aspects of the building. | |
"We know the building is important to Moseley's history and we are keen to work with local people and conservation specialists to maintain the heritage and natural habitats." | |
Birmingham City Council approved the plans at a meeting on Thursday, despite receiving 10 letters of objection which it said were based "on a number of issues". | |
They included one citing the "Church of Scientology was not a recognised religion in this country", it said. | They included one citing the "Church of Scientology was not a recognised religion in this country", it said. |
Conservation group, The Moseley Society, said it was not worried about the religion moving to the area but was concerned about the amount of extra traffic the centre could create. | |
The secretary of the society, Fiona Adams, said: "It's still an unknown quantity how busy this new centre will become. | |
"It's near to one of the most [statistically] dangerous junctions in Moseley, on Russell Road, which is used a lot by traffic especially during rush hour." | "It's near to one of the most [statistically] dangerous junctions in Moseley, on Russell Road, which is used a lot by traffic especially during rush hour." |