AMONG suggestions arising from a public consultation exercise on the future of

Coleford's St John's Church were its complete replacement with a flagship eco-friendly community building and place of worship.

Vicar Rev Sarah Bick confirmed all options were on the table after it was revealed the true cost of completely restoring the Victorian building, closed for the winter with fears over its electrical safety, was in the region of £1.8million.

Commenting on the heritage versus renewal dilemma Rev Bick said: "I had people telling me at the consultation meeting that although their hearts were in keeping the present church, many for personal reasons, their heads were telling them that a new church would make even more sense.

"It could, for example, be a state-of-the-art flagship building combining the church with a heritage centre for the town, somewhere for people to visit."

In order to attract funding for either route – perhaps through lottery funding – the church had to present a strong business plan for the future, and this meant exploring all options including its use for meetings, concerts and even drama if the Forest Theatre is closed.

The consultation, she said, was a rolling discussion that would hopefully lead to the right decisions being taken about the future of St John's.

There were funds available for following the heritage route as an historic church so long as this was what the community really wanted, and a strong qualified team involving diocese experts was looking at all the options as well as looking at any new suggestions that might arise.

Meanwhile, the Paro­chial Church Council has pointed out that rent from the Vicarage of approximately £9,000 a year, suggested in a Review opinion column as a possible source of funding to restore the building's electrical system, would hardly make a dent in the problem when the running costs alone for the church were in the region of £25,000 a year.

In fact the rent goes into a diocesan fund which helps to maintain other vicarages besides Coleford St John's, and it is not used for churches at all.

Rev Bick encouraged anyone with an idea that might help or an offer of funding to contact the PCC.