Church seeks new consent

The Exclusive Brethren Church in Glenelg St. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
The Exclusive Brethren Church in Glenelg St. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

The Exclusive Brethren has responded to public complaints about its operations in Dunedin by seeking consent for gatherings of up to 650 worshippers.

The church insists it is not an attempt to expand its footprint in Dunedin, but to clarify what is already occurring inside the church at 81A Glenelg St, Bradford.

The church's application was heard by the Dunedin City Council's hearings committee yesterday.

The application came just weeks after the Glenelg Gospel Trust, which owns the church, filed a separate consent application to develop a new facility on 5ha of land at 326 Factory Rd, Mosgiel.

In the meantime, the church wanted to vary its existing consent for the Glenelg St church, following complaints from some residents and threats of enforcement action by council staff.

Kerry Wallace, a trustee and church member, told yesterday's hearing the church had been given consent, and built, to accommodate up to 500 worshippers in 1992.

Since then, the Dunedin congregation had grown along with the size of the church's regular gatherings, he said.

In 1992, expectations were up to 150 people would use the church during Sunday morning services, while the 500-person capacity would be needed ''maybe once a year'', a council planner's report said.

But the church was now used for combined services with other congregations, swelling numbers to 300 every third Sunday, and to 600 once every three or four months, the report said.

That had resulted in a procession of vehicles driving up Glenelg St to reach the church every Sunday, leading to two complaints from neighbours in 2012, and a third, signed by 22 neighbours, in 2013.

Mr Wallace said the church had tried to be a good neighbour, and offered to relocate some smaller services to another building, while continuing to host its Sunday services.

That was despite legal advice backing its position, Mr Wallace said.

However, continuing concern saw the council threaten an abatement notice in May 2014 that would have restricted Sunday morning services, he said.

That prompted the church to voluntarily limit Sunday services to 150 people, despite the ''significant negative impact'' on the church, he said.

The church also introduced its own traffic management plan, including a lower 30kmh speed limit for church-goers on Glenelg St, which appeared to have satisfied most neighbours, he said.

But the council's suggestion Sunday services be relocated to another building was rejected, as the church had ''a lot of money invested in our purpose-built facility'', Mr Wallace said.

The application to vary the church's existing consent, to accommodate the larger numbers, had the written approval of 13 neighbours.

The proposal had also attracted six submissions - three of them opposed - when notified on a limited basis.

Neighbours' concerns centred on the ''huge increase'' in traffic in Glenelg St, which resident Elizabeth Carmichael said in a submission could be ''an accident waiting to happen''.

The committee adjourned yesterday's hearing for a site visit, but a decision was expected within the next two weeks, chairman Cr Andrew Noone said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement