RESIDENTS who fought hard to campaign against a controversial plan to build a Christian meeting hall in Mobberley burst into applause as borough chiefs threw out the proposal yesterday.

Members of Cheshire East Council’s northern planning committee rejected an application by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church to demolish buildings at the former Mobberley Riding School, in Newton Hall Lane, and build a new meeting centre for 508 people on Wednesday, February 8.

Almost 200 objections to the proposal were raised by residents during consultation, but CEC had recommended planning permission was granted ahead of the meeting.

The recommendation said that the proposals would not have a ‘detrimental impact’ on the site, but councillors at the meeting disagreed, arguing that intrusions to the community would not be outweighed by any benefits.

Cllr Craig Browne said: “The Plymouth Brethren Church is not known for being an open and inclusive community, and a number of rejections from residents have reflected this.

“It’s not clear that the church would benefit people in Mobberley. The only way we could make this work is if a condition was imposed that the building would also be used for the community.

“If the Brethren is as open as it states that it should have no issue having this imposed.”

The plans would have see the removal of all the current buildings on the site, apart from the Oak House, while a meeting hall with capacity for 508 members would have been developed.

Five services would have been held at the hall most weeks, including a 6am service on Sundays, and evening services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

A total of 182 letters of objection were sent about the development, while Mobberley Parish Council recommended the plans were thrown out on the grounds of increased traffic making the village’s roads unsafe.

Neighbouring parish councils in Wilmslow, Ollerton with Marthall and Great Warford also objected to the plans.

In a written statement read to the committee, Cllr Jamie Macrae, CEC ward councillor slammed the proposal as ‘intrusive’ on the community and greenbelt.

Cllr Steward Gardiner added: “This development will attract a significant amount of traffic from people far beyond the parish and the area.”

But Cllr Nick Mannion claimed there was ‘no planning reason’ to reject the development, and warned members of the committee to ‘forget who the applicants were’ as they made the decision.

The proposal was turned down by eight votes to four.

Following the decision, Sarah Foster, representing the Plymouth Brethren Church, told the Guardian she was unsure if the church would appeal the decision.

“Clearly we’re disappointed, and we will be looking at the reasons the application was rejected,” she said.

“There were clearly a lot of local concerns, and it’s too soon to know if the decision will be appealed.”