The Church of England has asked for comments about plans to turn a sacred site in Hove into a doctors’ surgery.
The disused Holy Trinity Church at the junction of Goldstone Villas and Blatchington Road, Hove, looks likely to house two surgeries which are currently near by.
The Sackville Road Surgery, in Sackville Road, and the Central Hove Surgery, in Ventnor Villas, are being lined up to move there.
Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) – also known as NHS Brighton and Hove – has already held an exhibition in the decommissioned church building about the plan.
Now the Church Commissioners are carrying out their own consultation.
They have invited comments about plans to use the church for “a medical centre, retail pharmacy, community health, dental services”.
Their consultation specifically rules out the building being used as a place of worship for other religions or as a bingo hall.
Anyone wishing to comment on the disposal plans should email Ross Brazier at ross.brazier@churchofengland.org by Thursday 2 June.
The PCT said: “The Church Commissioners are currently holding a national consultation regarding this church building being developed as a health centre.
“Once Church Commissioners consultation feedback has been received, we will – if appropriate – then need to apply for planning permission because the church is a listed building.”
If the Church of the Holy Trinity has been disused for so many years why not offer it to the Coptic Orthodox Community in Brighton and Hove. We have been looking for an additional place of worship for some time now. At least we will still preserve the church as a place of worship as opposed to any other business project.
Kind Regards
Roy Isaac
http://www.coptic-church.org
It is a handsome building. Iknow and have met several Coptic Christians of whom there is a considerable community in Brighton and Hove. They have all been charming and likeable people and it would be helpful for them to be able to use this church. Given the suffering their religion has suffered in Egypt this would be a good and kind gesture.
Otherwise medical facilities could be the basis for more general and imaginative beneficial community use and services, all completely in line with Christian principles but more relevant and modern than traditional church services and activities.