CHESTERFIELD ROAD SOUTH METHODIST CHURCH

OUR BUILDING PROJECT JOURNEY

June 2026      Still no decision from Manfield District Council. Following a meeting with council representatives, we understand that the application will be brought to the Planning Committee by the end of July.  We continue to wait and pray.  

June 2026    To date, the amount raised in our Season of Giving is £78,000 – a phenomenal effort, and still we keep going!!!

May 2026       We expect to receive a decision on our planning application by the end of the month.

April 2026      Mansfield District Council asked for a 4 week extension on our Planning Application. The new date for a decision is 18 May.

In the meantime behind the scenes, good progress is being made on appointing a Care Provider. This has to be agreed with Notts County Council.

March 2026   “A Season of Giving” launched. In order to build a stronger case for external grant funders, the church council agreed that we should aim to raise at least a further £90000 over the next 12 months.  ( £210000 had already been raised over a long period of time. Some has already been spent on various professional fees). On the day, just over £33000 was raised. A PHENOMINAL EFFORT FROM A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE. WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE.  

February 2026  Open Day for people in the neighbourhood to see the plans. Local and County Councillors  were also invited.

January 2026             Planning Application validated by Mansfield District Council, with an agreed date of 22 April for a decision to be made

Consultations etc continue. MDC have a number of queries which need to be answered.

December 2025 After a lot of work behind the scenes, ongoing consultations, meetings AND

MUCH PRAYER, the church was in a position to apply for planning permission for:-

• A new church and community building
• 12 one bedroom apartments
• A staff area/room  

MARCH 2025             New plans are being drawn up to reflect the changes which the Connexion have asked us to explore……….    Conversations will be ongoing………    

January 2025                         A meeting was held  with The Methodist Connexion at which we were asked to consider a bigger and bolder project! Namely

• to build a new church and community building on the adjacent parcel of land as already proposed
• to consider building a number of apartments on the site of the existing church, which would then be leased to a care provider through a housing association. These apartments would be for the benefit of people who required specialist supported housing assistance.

The benefits of this scheme would be:-  

• the land would be retained as an asset,  
• any rental income would provide much needed funds for the Circuit.  
• the apartments would provide much needed housing stock in our community, which feeds into “our calling” to help serve the community and to help the most vulnerable in our society.

In return the Methodist Connexion would help us to  

• Determine if this was a feasible project

If so,  

• Negotiate on our behalf  with all the interested parties (Notts County Council; a Care Provider who would provide 24/7 care for the  residents; and a Housing Association who would lease the premises from the Methodist Church.  
• Advise and help with all the necessary legal requirements and agreements.  
• Ensure risks are mitigated and minimised.

AND A LOT MORE…….!!

It became apparent quite quickly that building the church would be a church project and the apartments would need to become a Circuit project. So Circuit representatives were co-opted onto our Church Planning Group.  

November 2024        Following a restructure of the Methodist Property Division, a reply to our application was received with an offer for a representative of the Methodist Connexion to meet with us to discuss our proposal.

July 2024                    The church council approved an application to the Methodist Connexion for a grant of £10000 for a feasibility study.

June 2024

The Church Council appointed a local architect to draw up plans for a smaller church and community centre on land already owned by the church and adjacent to the existing church building.  The plans include:-

• demolishing the current building and rebuilding on adjacent land
• applying for outline planning permission for 6 semi-detached properties on the current site
• to then sell this portion of land to raise money to build the new church.