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Permission given for church in office block

Hannah Brown
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Google Aerial shot of a business park with a central two-storey brick building with a grey roof. It has its own car park lined by trees. There are houses to the left and a road running past on the right, with a car park to the right of that.Google
The church wants to move to Trust Court in Histon (in the centre of the picture)

Permission has been given for an office block to be turned into a place of worship.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) said it had been given notice to leave its current site in Cambridge and wants to move to a commercial site in Trust Court, Histon.

The church planned to run a food bank from the new location, as well as hold Sunday services and other events through the week.

South Cambridgeshire District Council gave the go-ahead despite concerns about noise from choir practices and worship.

At the moment, the City of David Parish of the RCCG, an international church based in Nigeria, holds services at a unit on Cherry Hinton Road.

Planning documents describe the RCCG as "a vibrant multicultural church" which "has been given notice to vacate the building by March 2025, hence the need for new accommodation".

Google Three-storey white building with red roof, featuring a circular logo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. There is a light brown building to the right and a white one to the left. There is a wall of metal in the foreground next to which a man is standingGoogle
The Redeemed Christian Church of God is an international church based in Nigeria

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the application for Trust Court has a timetable of weekly events, including a 90-minute worship service at 11:00 on Sundays and a food bank on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

There will also be bible study meetings, a mother and baby group and choir practices.

Environmental health officers raised concerns about the noise impact of the worship services and choir sessions.

The council agreed to let the project go ahead but advised the church to draw up a management plan to reduce the effect of noise on the community.

Possible measures that could be taken included shutting doors and windows, and using acoustic instruments instead of those that have to be amplified.

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