Church Group Applies to Build Plymouth Brethren Hall in Montacute, Somerset, England

A church group is seeking permission to build a place of worship near Yeovil. Boon Brown, on behalf of Placket Construction Limited and PBCC properties, has applied to Somerset Council to build a new home for the Yeovil community of the Plymouth Brethren.

The proposed 330 square metre church hall would stand on the site of the former St Michael’s Nursery in Mason Lane, Montacute, next to the link road that joins the A3088 Cartgate Link to Montacute Road. The application states that there would be no changes to site access and no increase in visitor numbers beyond what is currently allowed.

Permission was previously granted for a building on the former nursery site to be used as a church. A site to the south is the subject of planning permission for seven homes.

According to the plans, the building would be used by a particular small group within the larger Yeovil community. The group’s main collective worship, which would generally be regarded as Sunday church attendance, takes place in a large central venue in Yeovil. To meet the community’s worship needs during the rest of the week, the plans say, smaller groups meet in more localised venues across the South Somerset district.

The new building would be positioned in the north-west of the site, which the application says would give a “greater level of separation from the houses of Mason Lane” and limit “visual prominence or change compared to the current buildings.” The exterior would be clad in timber, with a pitched, slated roof, and the plans are intended to keep the change to the streetscape modest for nearby residents (Romans 12:18, a call to live peaceably with neighbours).

Members of the public can view the details and comment on the plans at somerset.gov.uk by searching application reference 26/02241/FUL.

The Plymouth Brethren were founded in the 1820s amid dissatisfaction with the paid clergy of the established churches. The movement describes itself as an evangelical Christian group that relies strictly on the Bible as its spiritual authority.

Source: Read the original report