2:13pm Sunday 7th October 2007
By Andy Chiles
The church known as Brighton's cathedral appears doomed to closure.
An influential committee voted on Sunday to recommend that the landmark St Peter's Church in York Place be made redundant.
The margin of the vote was reported to be overwhelming.
Despite being the city's biggest and best known church the Parochial Church Council responsible for it has decided that it is no longer viable to pay the maintenance bills to keep it running.
The recommendation from the PCC, whose members are drawn from the congregation of St Peters and the nearby Chapel Royal in North Street, will now be passed to the Church of England's Church Commissioners to make a final decision. But it is believed that it will now be extremely difficult to overturn the recommendation.
The council's decision has come despite a surge of opposition towards the closure from residents of the city.
More than 6,000 people have written letters or signed their name to petitions calling for it to be saved.
Several vigils have been held and actress Dora Bryan has played her part, leading a "knit-in".
Their efforts were well received by the church's own committee, which has expressed an opinion that it would be possible to keep it running with better organisation and more use of the building as a venue for concerts and other revenue sources. They were not enough to influence the council.
The national Church Commissioners will carry out an extensive consultation before reaching their conclusion, giving parishioners a final chance to try to keep St Peter's open.
Maureen Dickson, secretary of the Friends of St Peter's, said: "It is very important that people do not give up. We need to show the commissioners it is very special because it is considered to be Brighton's cathedral."
The closure was originally recommended by the Anglican Diocese of Chichester in light of dwindling congregation and repair bills of thousands of pounds which it said would not be viable.
Recently plaster has fallen from the roof onto the floor of the Grade II listed building.
There has been much speculation about what would become of St Peter's if it were to close. Some have suggested it could be taken over by another church of a different religion. The city's Catholic population has grown considerably in recent years with an influx of residents from nations including Poland, Spain and Portugal, while there are also other wealthy newer churches.
Other speculation has included the possibility of St Peter's being sold for housing development or being transformed into a homeless shelter, an art gallery or a museum.
People connected with the church have expressed their fear that it could remain boarded up and unused for many years if it is closed and become "another West Pier".
Campaigners trying to save the church have asked for anyone who wants to support their efforts to visit them at St Peter's where they can be found every Saturday morning between 10.30am and noon.
Do you think St Peter's should be closed? Leave your comments below.
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