image for illustration: Martyn Davies / Christ Church
The Friends of Christ Church Longcross, setup in 2018 to campaign to save the heritage of a local Grade II listed former church building, have been fundraising via Crowdfunding to ‘pay for a KC Barrister’s Opinion’.
The Friends of Christ Church Longcross writes:
… What This Case Is About – and Why It Matters
Theresa Burton, a former local ward councillor for Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) and founder of Friends of Christ Church Longcross, launched a Judicial Review last December against the council arguing they failed in their duty to protect the heritage of a Grade II listed former church building which was noted to have beautiful stained glass windows….
…. We are not looking for a large sum – our target is £3,000 to cover the KC opinion and a further £2,000 for reviewing the final Enforcement Report by our KC.
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Reconsidered Enforcement Report to be decided at Planning Committee September 3
Many thanks to those who have supported our crowdfunding campaign on CrowdJustice!
We achieved the initial target of £3,000 to pay for a KC Barrister’s Opinion which has been submitted to Runnymede Borough Council. Thank you!
As a result of meeting our initial target, CrowdJustice extended our campaign allowing us to fundraise an additional £2,000 which will go towards the cost of having our counsel, Alex Goodman KC of Landmark Chambers, review the Enforcement Report which will shortly be published in advance of the planning committee meeting.
As a reminder, this crowdfund is the first time in this long running case we have reached out to our supporters for any donations, having self-funded the Judicial Review claim. While the settlement to reconsider the Enforcement Report required the council to refund part of our costs, it did not cover the entire amount spent to bring the claim. All funds raised via CrowdJustice go directly to counsel for this next step.
Planning Committee September 3, 2025, 7pm
The reconsidered Enforcement Report will be presented, debated and decided at the next RBC Planning Committee meeting Wednesday September 3, 2025 at 7pm. The Planning Committee meeting will be live streamed and we will share the link when published.
In the news:
Recently The Victorian Society’s Senior Conservation Adviser Connor McNeill was interviewed live on BBC Surrey Radio about the case – commenting on the ‘shocking’ treatment of the Stained Glass and Historic windows as well as the inappropriate use of non-traditional uPVC frames….
?? Thank you so much for your continued support and it is very much appreciated for any donations, large or small, to help with this final milestone before the reconsidered Enforcement Report is presented to the RBC Planning Committee next week. ??
- You can listen to the interview, which also includes an interview with Theresa Burton, founder of Friends of Christ Church Longcross who brought the Judicial Review claim, here… (Interview starts at 2:48 mins in)
- BBC Surrey news also covered the case in this article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gzr5x07k5o
- Surrey Live: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/runnymede-hit-17500-court-costs-32084929
