Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) will decide the application for a church and community hub, as well as landscaping and parking, on Greatbridge Road.
The application by Freedom Church, first received in February 2023, is for the land behind the Esso petrol station. The site, an open field measuring approximately 1.15ha.
READ MORE: Romsey church applies to build permanent home and community centre
(Image: Studio Four Architects) According to the officer report, the proposal is for a building measuring approximately 42.5m by 36.5m by 8.9m at the northwest corner of the site.
The proposal also includes the erection of a detached, circular prayer room structure measuring approximately 9.6m in diameter and an amphitheatre, approximately 11.5m in diameter.
The proposal includes additional landscape planting and biodiversity enhancement areas, as well as the creation of two ponds.
The plans for the church had to be amended following flooding concerns raised by the Environment Agency in October 2023.
READ MORE: Plans for Freedom Church’s new home amended after flood concern
In the conclusion to the document, the case officer, Graham Melton, said: “This assessment has identified the proposal will deliver significant social benefits and limited economic benefits with a neutral impact on the environmental objective of sustainable development.”
The recommended permission is subject to the receipt of a “satisfactory consultation response” from Natural England, as well as the addition and/or of any planning conditions to ensure an “adverse impact on designated ecology sites is avoided.”
Although documents state the social and economic benefits of the proposal outweigh the negatives, there has been opposition.
Objections have chiefly come from stakeholders concerned with the level of development in Romsey.
Objector Robert Dalton, of Priestlands, said: “The plot chosen is prime grazing meadow and could either be kept as agricultural land or used as allotments for Romsey’s increasing population.
“There is no need for further places of worship in Romsey and according to the 2021 census religious identification in the Test Valley has dropped significantly in the last 10 years, which would suggest an opportunity for sharing facilities with other religious organisations in Romsey.”
If permission is granted it will need to begin within two years. The site is located in the countryside, where development is only permitted in exceptional circumstances and the proposal is only acceptable as it serves an immediate community need.
The planning committee meets at Crosfield Hall in Romsey on Tuesday January 14 at 5.30pm.