Council says no to new church and burial ground in Sulhamstead

The Plymouth Brethren have had an application to build a new church barn and burial ground in a field in Sulhamstead rejected.

West Berkshire Council said the proposed new church hall lies on a greenfield site between Hollybush Lane and Shortheath Lane.

It said it comprises a community facility for a ‘very small percentage of the local population for which no exceptional need was demonstrated’.

The council added that the construction of this new church building, while relatively modest in scale, will still visually harm the locality and increase traffic.

The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church build their Gospel Halls to a standard set of principles worldwide. Gospel Halls are places of worship and gathering for the congregation, and are therefore, they believe, best situated in quiet, reflective landscape.