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St Theresa’s Catholic Church in Stansted set to offer up its hall to the wider community for weddings, parties and meetings




St Theresa of Lisieux Catholic Church has received the backing of Stansted Parish Council to open up its hall for community use.

The building forms part of the church complex off High Lane, which was granted planning consent back in 2000, but is currently dubbed the “white elephant” of the site as it is underused and costing the diocese money.

The church applied to Uttlesford District Council (UDC) back in November 2023 to vary a planning condition so that it could be used by the wider community, rather than just for churchgoers.

Uttlesford District Council's offices in Saffron Walden
Uttlesford District Council's offices in Saffron Walden

If approved, the hall could host weddings, parties, coffee mornings or dinner functions, discussion groups, meetings, conferences and lectures as well as exhibitions and displays between the hours of 8am-11pm.

In a letter to UDC, parish priest Father Clement Orango said: “Currently, our parish hall is redundant and quite frankly, a white elephant.

“Our parish finances are in the red and we will struggle to pay for the upkeep and repairs of the hall. Therefore, I would like the hall to be available for use by parishioners and members of the wider community, thus enabling it to become beneficial financially through donations and also by serving a useful purpose for various functions.

“In this way, our catholic parish will be better connected to the wider community here in Stansted and to the public at large.”

Stansted parish councillors at their meeting on Wednesday (Jan 15) heard that at the time of the church’s initial application to UDC to vary the condition, members had given their backing.

The scheme was then delayed after environmental health officers raised concerns about potential noise complaints. That led to the development of a noise management plan, which was finally submitted to UDC in December.

Clement Accoustics was commissioned to draw up the plan which recommends a series of measures to limit impact, including prior notice to residents of any events with amplified music; the hall’s windows and doors must remain closed; the behaviour of users to be monitored and limiting the use of outside space to 10pm.

Council chair Maureen Caton said: “We continue to support it.”

Fellow member Cllr Geoffrey Sell added: “I remember when St Theresa’s was first built and there were concerns from residents of Five Acres about the potential noise, so I am pleased to hear that there is a noise management plan. I certainly haven’t been contacted by any residents.”

The site is bound by Cambridge Road to the east, High Lane to the west, residential houses on Five Acres to the south and homes on King Charles Drive to the north.

UDC will decide on the application in the next few weeks.



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