Last week there was a local hearing by the planning inspector regarding the initial application. A decision by the inspector is likely in the next 6-8 weeks regarding whether the planning committee's rejection of the application should be upheld or overturned.

A few points that came to light in the local hearing:
1. Following the objection by the FH Society to the initial application the developer spoke to the officers regarding whether social housing would be required, and were told that it would not be given the listing of the property. However, this was the main reason for refusal by the planning committee.
2. Had the officers asked for social housing prior to referral to committee, the developer would have considered including some social housing. Due to the delay and the additional interest payments made by the developer, they are now claiming it would not be viable to include social housing.
3. The subsequent applications have been withdrawn. Apparently one did include social housing provision, but was withdrawn as it was not considered economically viable by the developer.
4. The developer has recognised that a church would not be an acceptable use of the ground floor due to noise considerations. For this reason, should they proceed, it will be with offices on the ground floor.