MY wife and I were interested to read a BBC report of objections by residents to a proposed development of a riding school in Mobberley to provide a meeting hall / place of worship for Brethren.

We thought our experience here in Farnham, Surrey may be of help.

For the past 33 years we’ve lived very close to a fairly large Brethren hall, with some of their senior people as our next door neighbours.

We are not members and have no other connection.

On Sunday morning and evening, and one weekday evening a week we’d see an increase in traffic for around half an hour before and after a meeting as people arrived and left but this caused no disruption.

To be fair, it’s a fairly busy road anyhow. Many members car share, so it was usual to see full people carriers.

On rare occasions, usually an early summer’s evening, we’d hear some laughter as youngsters played in the yard, probably awaiting chatting parents before departure.

On weekdays the car park was used as a drop off and pickup point for Brethren children assembling for shared transport to school by minibus. No nighttime activity whatsoever.

Sadly, the site was sold last year and is currently being developed as a 65 bed nursing home, from which we expect an increase in traffic.

The fields opposite are to be a 350 unit housing estate.

We’d much prefer the Brethren, and I urge your parishioners to consider what else might put on the site as an alternative, were they to succeed in objections to this.

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