Camberwell bingo hall: Have your say

Monday, 01 March 2010

By Lindsay Burns

COMMENTS have been flooding in on southlondon-today.co.uk about a battle to stop a bingo hall from becoming a church.

The Camberwell Bingo Club closed on Sunday and has been by sold by owners Gala to the Nigerian Redeemed Christian Church of God and a private company called Medinbrand.

Resident Tom Leighton has launched a campaign to keep the building in community use as a cinema or arts centre.

Photographer Mr Leighton said: “A community centre can be a church, or a bingo hall, a theatre, or a meeting place.

"An evangelical church is an evangelical church.

“It can’t be any of those things and it excludes anyone who is not of that faith.”

He accused Gala of shirking its corporate responsibility by not consulting on what could replace the hall.

The sale mirrors that which took place in Crystal Palace when Gala sold a bingo hall in Church Road to Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC).

Residents who wanted a cinema on the site mounted a successful campaign against KICC’s application to Bromley council to allow a church to operate from the site.

The church is now appealing.

Campaigners in Camberwell say they would oppose any similar application for their bingo hall.

In a letter to the Redeemed Christian Church of God about the Camberwell building, Peckham resident James Johnston warned that planning consent for a change of use would be unlikely because there were so many places of worship nearby.

He said: “The local community is suffering from a lack of services, retail outlets and a shortage of community spaces which integrate people from a wide variety of faiths or no faith.”

He added that the Gala Bingo Hall had more than 2,000 seats and a church of that size would be out of proportion for the area.

Mark Dodds, the chairman of the SE5 online forum said a large community space was desperately needed.

He said: “I used to run Camberwell Arts Festival and every year we used to have problems finding a large community venue.

“There are loads of artists, playwrights, dancers but there is nowhere for them to have their work seen.

"This is a huge opportunity that hasn’t been around in Camberwell for about 30 years.”

A Gala spokeswoman said it was a private sale and the building had gone to community use because it has been sold to the church.

No one from the Redeemed Christian Church of God was able to comment before our deadline.

The future of the bingo hall will be discussed at the Camberwell Community Forum on Wednesday in Southwark Town Hall, from 7pm.

Do you think the bingo hall should be turned into a church?

Have your say by filling in the comment form below, or vote in our online poll to the right of the page.

What do you think? Join in the debate by filling in the comment form below, or vote in our online poll to the right of the page.

To read our original story on the closure of the hall CLICK HERE

Email: lindsay.burns@slp.co.uk

For the full story, you can get a full online edition at www.slp-e-edition.co.uk

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166 comments on this news item

Posted by : Julius, Crystal Palace | Sunday 04/Apr/2010 | Report this comment

has anyone heard of any situation where church in the community increase the level of crime?churches always improve the community and it helps the local. the benefit of house of praise coming to camberwell will be great and i think is a good ideal that community should give their suppport to this church.

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Posted by : Sam, Bermondsey | Saturday 27/Mar/2010 | Report this comment

good to read that the House of Praise and Mr Leighton are now talking. The church is up to the task and camberwell will feel the impact of house of praise, music,drama and the local shops will benefit greatly too. But please open it for EVENTS to other group even if you have to charge! No more racial vibes........

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Posted by : Helen , Camberwell | Wednesday 24/Mar/2010 | Report this comment

There are already 6 types of these churche’s that I am aware of along Camberwell Rd, why on earth is there another one needed? The area needs something new and exciting injected into it...not another so called church!

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