by Alan Watkins

Building campaigners have won a battle to save a church but lost a fight that could have prevented the demolition of another prominent public building.

It has split the public with some people getting angry at the decisions.

The Government has listed the 45-year-old Holy Trinity Church in Twydall on the recommendation of English Heritage despite a possible £1 million repair bill. This protects it from being knocked down.

But English Heritage has rejected plans to list the 100-year-old Aveling and Porter building in Strood. Medway Council wants to knock down the building, next to the former civic centre, and use the site for construction.

Holy Trinity was built by talented architect Arthur Bailey and was a radical departure from conventional churches.

It was “a bold modern church with the creative use of traditional materials”, the Culture Department (DCMS) said.

But the congregation had planned to knock down Holy Trinity and replace it with a economically-effective church while using the rest of the land for homes.

Campaigners reacted angrily when the former Civic Centre - built for the engineering giants Aveling and Porter at Strood 100 years ago - was rejected for a second time by English Heritage.

It ruled it lacked historic or architectural merit.

But Jim Preston, industrial archaeology advisor to the Council for Kentish Archaeology, said English Heritage was ignoring the significance of the company to British industry.

“They are wilfully not wanting to do anything about it,” he stormed.

The council claims it would cost around £800,000 to repair and maintain. They want to demolish it quickly for reconstruction - and save massive business rates.

Bob Ratcliffe, from the City of Rochester Society, said: “The local authority is not interested in its industrial heritage at all. It is only interested in Dickens.”
His society is unlikely to appeal, but SAVE Britain’s Heritage is considering legal action.