What is happening with ATIK building: Church gets permission to take over boarded up Halifax town centre nightclub building

A planning application has been approved to turn what was ATIK, on Commercial Street, into a place of worship.

The Courier revealed last month that is New Beginnings Community Church who want to move into the Grade II listed building.

The church was in The Threeways Centre in Ovenden before it was closed and has been meeting at Trinity Academy in Holmfield ever since.

O and C Management Ltd, which is overseeing a large chunk of redevelopment around Halifax town centre, made the application.

There had been five letters of objection and one of support.

Objections included an assertion the development needing to be accessible for all to comply with the Equality Act 2010, that the building should be available to all – not just one religion, that it was unsuitable for use as a place of worship and that the faith associated with the development had not been disclosed.

Others argued the siting of a place of worship so close to the town would be detrimental to the town’s success.

Using the building for worship excludes large portions of society, said one objector

Another said another place of worship in Halifax is not needed.

Other objections included that there is very little parking available nearby and so it might cause parking and traffic issues.

Tthe letter of support said the development will offer many activities for the whole community.

Highways officers said the change of use was unlikely to have any detrimental effect on the roads and parking was an issue for the developer to consider.

Planning officers said there was no issue with the change of use.

Senior leader at New Beginnings, Alistair Pugh, told the Courier they currently have around 150 members and are “growing fast”.

They had looked at moving into the old Mecca Bingo building, on the edge of Halifax town centre, but then they came across the nightclub site.

As well as providing the church and its groups a new permanent home, the new building could be hired for functions and other community groups, he added.