A STATE-OF-THE-ART sunken meeting room planned for St Mary's Church in Chiddingfold is one step nearer completion. Plans for the sunken room have been in the pipeline for several months, and when they are completed would see a turf-covered, zinc-framed building built in a recess behind the church. Earlier this month, Waverley borough councillors waved away concerns held by many Chiddingfold residents, and agreed not to object to the scheme. Many villagers objected to the planned meeting room because it would mean felling an old yew tree. They also felt there was danger of substantially altering the character of the church, which, as a Grade I listed building, is protected against substantial changes. The borough council received 27 letters of objection, as well as an 86-letter petition, claiming the scheme should be turned down because of increased noise, the impact on the area's archaeology, the required removal of graves and headstones and the increased risk of flooding. However, the plans did get the backing of the parish council - which held a meeting in July over the issue - and 26 residents wrote in to say the village needed a meeting hall like the one planned for the church. Planning chiefs said that, although the site would be inappropriate in green belt land, the fact it would also be shielded by the church's surrounding land reduced the impact. It was also acknowledged that the tree added to the character of the churchyard, and that the church would need permission to fell it because it is in a conservation area. They recommended the plans be turned down, but Waverley councillors ignored the suggestion and gave the thumbs-up because, they said, they believed the benefit of having a meeting-place in the village outweighed the loss of the tree. It is not the final chapter in the meeting room' saga, however. The plans must now go to the Government Office of the South East (GOSE) because of the site's listed status.
