A CHURCH in Chester still intends to install solar panels on its roof, despite its planning application to the Council being withdrawn.

As The Standard reported at the end of August, The Wesley Church Centre in Chester plans to install 39 panels on the roof of the building on St John Street.

However, the plans were withdrawn on Tuesday (October 22) after it was confirmed that the applicants no longer require listed building consent to make the changes.

In a public comment added to the original application, the conservation officer for The Methodist Church explains:

“I write as the Conservation Officer at the Methodist Church. I write to confirm that the Methodist Church benefits from the Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas)(England) Order 2010 and is therefore exempt from having to apply for listed building consent for works to churches that are used for ecclesiastical purposes.

“The Wesley Centre is used for such purposes and is therefore exempt from having to apply for LBC, instead we have an internal system of control. 

“An application has been received and is being processed through the internal system of control and the LPA has offered representation on it. We therefore ask that this LBC is withdrawn as it is not statutorily required.”

The exemption is afforded to buildings belonging to specific denominations including: the Church of England; the Roman Catholic Church; the Methodist Church; the Baptist Union of Great Britain (and on occasions the Baptist Union of Wales) ; and the United Reformed Church. 

The decision to install solar panels was taken to reduce the centre’s external electricity costs.

The panels will provide a peak solar generation capacity of about 17kW, and 9,800kWh/yr for the church and its café. For context, a 100-watt light bulb would take ten hours to use 1kWh of energy.

The original plans stated that the panel would be mounted to the south facing section of the roof and will not be visible from street level, but will be visible for a short stretch of the City Walls. All-black panels will be selected to minimise any visual impact.