“IT’S not a victory to the objectors and it’s no disrespect to the applicants.”

Those were the words of Councillor Kim James as he joined a unanimous decision by the West Area Planning Committee to deny planning permission for the redevelopment of the Greig Hall.

A packed meeting applauded objections to the application from town councillors, Greig user groups, and local ward members, as well as a representative from the Greig Hall Action Committee.

However, there were also strong appeals on behalf of the application, from Greig user groups, and chair of the trustees Mike Gerrard, who gave an emotional speech, saying: “We know that we can’t carry on as we are. I fear the death knell is being sounded for the Greig, not just for the hall.”

In their summing up of the application, Councillor Paul Beaman said: “I do think this community should be saying to the town council, the community action group and the trustees, that you need to get together and save the building that Alcester deserves.”

Councillors objected unanimously to plans to demolish the Greig Hall, and redevelop the Greig Lifestyles building, expressing concerns over the design of the proposed housing development to be built on the site, as well as insufficient parking for the new centre.

As things stand the Greig Hall is due to close its doors at the end of September.

Speaking after the decision, Greig trustee, David Rose, said: “It’s still very difficult to see how any party can come up with a sustainable solution for refurbishing the Greig Hall and ensuring it can operate successfully going forward.”

Nick Dearling, from the Greig Hall Action Committee, added: “It’s vital that we work with the trustees. There’s a long way to go, but at least there’s hope. We‘re in a much better position than if it had gone the other way.”