WALTHAMSTOW residents are calling for the council to take control of the former EMD cinema before it is redeveloped into a church.

More than 400 concerned residents packed St Mary’s School hall in Rectory Road, Walthamstow, on Sunday to share their opinions on the future of the historic cinema in Hoe Street.

At the end of the meeting, when asked if the local authority should pursue a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to take control of the EMD building, 100 per cent of those attending voted in favour without abstentions.

All residents also voted unanimously against plans, which have not yet been finalised, to adapt the building into a church by its owners, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG).

The meeting was called by the McGuffin Film Society and was chaired by Neil Gerrard MP.

Speakers included representatives from the McGuffin Film Society, residents associations and prospective parliamentary candidate Stella Creasy.

McGuffin spokesman Bill Hodgson said: “The turnout on Sunday and the overwhelming support for the EMD proved yet again this is one local issue which is not going to go away.

“Councillors cannot continue to ignore the clear wishes of the vast majority of local residents.”

Caramel Quin of Cleveland Park Residents Association added: “The silent majority has now spoken. They unanimously want this planning application refused and the council to do a deal or a compulsory purchase to get the cinema back to its rightful use.

“I just hope councillors are listening”.

Deputy council leader John Macklin told residents his party had no objection in principle to the council exploring a compulsory purchase of the EMD site and described the likely £1m cost as “money that would be well invested”.

Regeneration and enterprise cabinet member Terry Wheeler declined to comment on the compulsory purchase issue, but revealed he had been involved in negotiations with UCKG regarding community hire arrangements.

The UCKG declined an invitation to attend the meeting but said it will be seeking public opinion when it invites residents to attend a public exhibition about the plans.

Pastor Paul Hill of the UCKG said: “Before we submit plans to the council we want to take into account people’s comments in reaction to the public exhibition we are going to hold.

“This meeting was not a public consultation because if it had been, the organisers would have worked with us to give residents proper information.

“There was no one there from our team, but if there is something good that came out of the meeting that we should pay attention to we will.”

Other votes taken at the end included the issue of whether the community would prefer a revived EMD or a new multiplex. All voted in favour of the EMD.

The final vote concerned an alternative compromise plan whereby UCKG would relinquish control of the EMD in exchange for new conference facilities to be built as part of the Arcade redevelopment.

Ninety per cent of those attending voted in favour of this solution while 10 per cent voted against.

Following the meeting, Walthamstow’s parliamentary candidate Stella Creasy said: “I hope we proved yesterday that we can have open discussions to get feedback from people.

“The meeting showed the strength of feeling about that building and that it needs to have a future in performance. It is a local landmark.

“I’m disappointed UCKG weren’t here to see local democratic debate in action but I hope they and the councillors will now recognise the benefits of engaging directly with residents about what happens next. The fight for the future of this local landmark goes on”.