PLANS to demolish a much-loved community centre in Christchurch have been rejected by the borough planning committee after impassioned pleas from ward councillors and a residents’ representative on Thursday.

Housing association Sovereign Twynham, applied for permission to demolish the community centre and replace it with a “landmark” two-storey office development for its staff at the corner of Amethyst Road and Southey Road on the town’s Somerford Estate.

Sovereign offered to make space for community use in the new building with a shared hall.

Later, as a sop to outraged community feelings, the housing association proposed providing additional shared accommodation at its depot at the former United Reformed Church nearby in Southey Road. Councillors deferrred making a decision on an application for change of use and the siting of a portable building there at Thursday’s meeting.

Speaking against Sovereign’s office plans, Somerford Partnership member Christine Hopkins said the proffered community facility was not a replacement for the existing hall because it would only cater for up to 50 people.

“Why should residents want a landmark development in a residential area?” she asked.

And she claimed residents would have to use the old URC hall because the new centre will only be available when not in use by the housing association.

She was also concerned about more than 100 additional daily vehicle trips through the residential district.

Ward councillors Denise Jones and Julie Petrie also spoke against the plan. Cllr Jones claimed the community space “has been pushed into a tiny corner of what is a car park on the ground floor”.

The building is “totally out of keeping with the area and the roads on which it has been placed”, she said.

“I’m not convinced that in the whole of the borough there is not space for offices.”

She claimed there was a covenant protecting the current community hall and was worried about the lack of parking spaces.

Cllr Petrie proposed refusing permission. All but Cllr Ray Nottage backed her proposition, and he abstained.

Sovereign could appeal against the decision.