22 July 2025
The Trustees of the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance (CDBF) have given Birch Inspire (formerly Save our Spire), a further six months to provide a fully costed business plan for the Birch Church site, subject to the following conditions:
a) The provision of a satisfactory business plan showing both the capital and operational phases of Birch InSpire’s proposal.
b) That the business plan is prepared in suitable time within that six month period to have had dialogue with the National Lottery Heritage Fund so as to show that an application to them is a feasible option, and
c) The commencement of pre-planning process with Colchester City Council.
The Diocese of Chelmsford has worked closely with the local community and the Church Commissioners since 1990, when the church closed for public worship, to find an appropriate use for the Birch Church site.
In 2023, Chelmsford Diocese published plans for a memorial garden, but after a campaign from the Save our Spire group to save and restore the derelict building and spire, CDBF Trustees agreed to postpone demolition until June 2024, to provide Save our Spire with time to develop and present a fully costed business plan. This is the third extension that the Trustees have granted since.
Commenting on the Trustees latest decisions, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Chelmsford said:
“We welcome the progress that Birch Inspire has made in recent months and the CDBF Trustees considered a further extension was appropriate to help all parties ascertain whether Birch Inspire’s plans can be realised. We very much hope they can, but at the same time, we are increasingly aware of some concerns in the local community about how long this is taking, particularly from those people for whom the derelict building is causing a problem, including those who visit loved ones’ graves on the site. We are doing everything we can to support Birch Inspire in their plans, but this will need to be the final extension given the problems that the derelict building continues to cause. If the conditions of this extension aren’t met and a fully costed, viable and robust business plan isn’t delivered within this six-month timeline, the trustees will move to progress the memorial garden project without further negotiation.
“The Trustees are also very mindful of the fact that the site continues to generate costs for the CDBF while it remains in its current state and we have a responsibility to help ensure that the mission and ministry in more than 500 parish churches across Essex and East London is resourced and supported and it is important that any decisions we take do not undermine the fulfilment of that responsibility. Contrary to popular belief the funding for those parish churches comes almost entirely from their Sunday collection plates and modest voluntary donations.
“We have always been committed to working with the local community to find the best, viable way forward for the future of Birch Church and this very much remains the case.”
More information
For further information about the site of St Peter and Paul Church, Birch visit our Birch Church webpages
Birch Church