RELIGIOUS HALL APPROVED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Religious hall approved

A religious group has been given permission to build a 750-capacity meeting hall next to a former 19th century school.

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) want to hold seminars and lectures on spiritual teachings in the building next to the disused Charles Keene College annex, in Abbey Park Street, Belgrave, Leicester.

The group has been renting meeting space at Lancaster School, in Knighton Lane East, for 30 years but said it wanted a base of its own.

RSSB is a worldwide movement, which describes itself as "a philosophical organisation based on the spiritual teachings of all religions and dedicated to a process of inner development under the guidance of a spiritual teacher".

A spokesman said: "The site in Abbey Park Street is seen as an ideal location because it is able to accommodate a meeting hall of sufficient size and, not least, because of its excellent accessibility by public transport."

RSSB will provide 76 parking spaces and said many of the visitors lived locally and would walk there.

The building is not listed but is on Leicester City Council's register of buildings of local interest. Some of the buildings would be demolished to make way for the meeting hall.

Planning officers approved the scheme.