PLANS to convert the EMD cinema building into a church are now being considered by council planners, the Guardian understands.

The United Church for the Kingdom of God (UCKG), which owns the building in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, has submitted an application for redevelopment of the listed building.

The plans would see the majority of the building, which closed as a cinema in 2003, converted into a church, with an area allocated for eventual community use.

More than 1,000 objections to the plans are understood to have been lodged and will be considered as part of the planning process.

A decision is set to be made by the planning committee later this year.

An independent review into the possibility of reviving the EMD building as an entertainment venue has been commissioned by the council.

Council leader Chris Robbins said this was to “dispel myths” about the viability of the building as a cinema.

But a number of operators have expressed an interest in reviving the EMD.

The McGuffin Film and Television Society, which has led a celebrity-endorsed campaign pushing for the EMD to be re-opened as a cinema, is planning a celebration of the building’s 80th anniversary in September.

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