Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2014

13 Amendment of Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991

(1) The Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991 (No. 1) is amended as follows.

(2) For section 17 there is substituted the following section—

“17 Faculties for demolition of churches

(1) A court shall not grant a faculty for the demolition or partial demolition of a church, except as provided in this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (4) below, a court may grant a faculty for the demolition of the whole or part of a church if it is satisfied that another church or part of a church will be erected on the site or curtilage of the church or part of a church in question, or on part of the site or curtilage, to take the place of the church or part of a church.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, a court may grant a faculty for the demolition of part of a church if it is satisfied that—

(a) the part of the church left standing will be used for the public worship of the Church of England for a substantial period after the demolition, or

(b) the demolition is necessary for the purpose of the repair or alteration of the church or the reconstruction of the part to be demolished.

(4) The court shall not grant a faculty under subsection (2) or (3)(a) above unless the person bringing proceedings for the faculty has obtained the written consent of the bishop of the diocese concerned to the proceedings being brought.

(5) For the purposes of this section, “partial demolition” and cognate expressions—

(a) mean removal of such part of a church as would, in the opinion of the court, significantly affect its external appearance, and

(b) do not include the destruction or removal of minor or ancillary structures forming part of the building.”.

(3) Section 18 is amended as follows—

(a) for subsection (1)(a), there is substituted the following paragraph—

“(a) that the demolition of the whole or part of a church in the diocese is urgently necessary in the interests of safety or health or for the preservation of the church;”;

(b) in subsection (1)(b), the words “in the case of a church which is a listed building or is in a conservation area” are repealed; and

(c) at the end of subsection (1) the words “without a faculty” are repealed.