Plymouth council has approved a planned $3 million renovation, which will create a new Scientology church.
The Church of Scientology appears to have won a battle to open a new center in the southwest of the U.K., despite fears among the local community and former devotees that the organization plans to use the location to “take over” the entire region.
On Friday, Plymouth council gave the church the go-ahead, despite a petition detailing concerns among locals. The successful planning application said the works covered “comprehensive repair, refurbishment and change of use of the Royal Fleet Club to enable its conversion to a place of worship and religious instruction.”
During the last round of planning applications in 2016, a group called Stop Scientology UK gathered more than 100 signatures from local people opposed to the church’s redevelopment of the Royal Fleet Hotel. At a meeting to rally opposition to the project, local resident and former Scientologist William Drummond said that while genuine offers to help improve the local community were welcome, the church could not be trusted.
“Situating the base of a cult in a residential area will increase levels of distress to vulnerable and elderly people living nearby,” Anderson added. “The modus operandi of the organization includes knocking on doors to try and recruit new members, and their tactics when they are turned away can become very forceful. This could cause unnecessary distress to residents in the immediate vicinity.”
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