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George Hammer: ‘It is said that cleanliness is next to godliness and this church building could have both of these’ |
‘I COULD SAVE OLD ST MARK’S’
Developer speaks out after health centre plans are blocked
THE millionaire developer whose dream to transform St Mark’s Church into a holistic health centre is in tatters has accused campaigners of throwing the listed building’s future into doubt.
In an exclusive interview with the West End Extra, beauty products magnate George Hammer accused those who fought his plans of “criminal damage”, warning that only his proposal would rescue the crumbling Mayfair Church.
Last night (Thursday), Mr Hammer’s passionate defence of the refurbishment were dismissed by campaigners who opposed the changes and have been celebrating since planners refused to grant permission for the works.
Mr Hammer – who has gone head-to-head with supermarket heiress Lady Sainsbury over the scheme – said: “The church is literally falling apart. This is a pioneering idea and I honestly feel it would be a good community use.”
The health centre chief, who runs a health spa in Harrods, said he had been wrongly cast as “Lucifer” in the row. He said all he planned to do was remove pews and open its doors free of charge to cancer patients.
St Mark’s magnate prepares his appeal
HE'S been called the face of greedy commercialism and names like Judas Iscariot.
But George Hammer, the man behind the controversial, and now dead-in-the-water plans to transform Grade I-listed St Mark’s Church into an alternative health centre claims he has been misunderstood.
As he prepares an appeal to last week’s decision not to grant planning permission for the “Wellness Centre” in the heart of Mayfair, the beauty products magnate, 58, has broken his silence in an exclusive interview with the West End Extra.
He scolded the millionaire leader of the Save St Mark’s campaign, Lady Sainsbury, telling her to “put up the money or shut up” and accused the congregation of inflicting “damage” on the historic building.
He also claimed the supermarket heiress and wife of former Conservative minister Tim Sainsbury had “never been to a service” in the church where William Wilberforce once preached.
He invited her to meet him to hear his plans, claiming he had reached out to the congregation on two occasions but had been rebuffed.
Mr Hammer said that should he win the appeal he would open his centre – with massage pools and an organic café – free to all cancer sufferers in the Mayfair postcode.
As the 100-strong campaign group pinch themselves following the delight of last week’s decision, Mr Hammer said the Save St Mark’s campaign should be renamed the “destroy St Marks campaign”, challenging the feted saviours, church group Holy Trinity Brompton, to put their money on the table for the refurbishment to the building which has been placed on the at-risk list by English Heritage.
Mr Hammer’s promise has been slammed as little more than a “PR stunt” by campaigners, who point to the 1,000-signature petition and council decision as proof that the community got what it really wanted.
But the man who founded the Sanctuary health spa in Covent Garden and runs the 20,000sqft Urban Retreat at Harrods, said he was the only person who had put up a viable offer to restore the North Audley Street church to its former glory and preserve it for posterity.
He said:“I feel I have been misrepresented. I’m not Lucifer, Judas, or the greedy face of commercialism. The whole time people have said you are destroying the community. My proposal is for a community use. Free treatment to cancer patients and a 20 per cent discount to local residents is beneficial to the community. The church is literally falling apart.
“The facts are simple. The congregation has not only neglected the building, it has been responsible for criminal damage. They couldn’t fulfil their obligations. They couldn’t pay the rent and they couldn’t repair the building.”
Mr Hammer, who spent £500,000 drawing up the plans, lives in the vicarage next door to the 1824 church with his wife and daughter
The 115-year lease at £115,000 a year and the £6million it would take to carry out the renovation, was conditional on planning permission being granted but Mr Hammer said his relationship with the diocese remains the same, despite the decision.
“All the way through this, people have said I want to put a health spa in the church. I’ve already got a health spa at Harrods. Why would I want another one? What it would be is the first holistic health centre of its kind where people can come to feel good. It would not be elitist or exclusive. At the moment we are looking at around £100 a day. We would have nutritionists, therapists and health professionals and look at forging partnerships with gyms maybe.
“It is a pioneering idea and I think people are always suspicious of new ideas, but I honestly feel it would be a good community use.
“The same thing happened with the Sanctuary and look what happened to that. People would be able to come in and see the building and from all the proposals over the years, this is the only one that is not irreversible. The only thing that will change about the building is removing the pews.”
Throughout the campaign, protesters have questioned why Mr Hammer had to choose a church for his centre.
He is unequivocal on this: “A church is the congregation not the building. St Mark’s is a church building. It has always been a church but what I am proposing is happening all over the country.
“As congregations dwindle, the Church of England has to look at other ways to keep their buildings alive. I was drawn to the spirituality of the building and that is why it makes the perfect place for a health centre.
“It is said that cleanliness is next to godliness and this church building could have both of these.”
Mr Hammer said he had been disappointed that the campaign had not fully engaged with him, and said his reticence was because he did not want to get drawn into a tit-for-tat war of words.
Kirk Mitchell from the Save St Mark’s campaign said Mr Hammer had been given the floor at a public meeting in the church where he was allowed to put his case to the community for 15 minutes.
“We did not shut him down and he has had the opportunity to make his case,” he said. “To say his plans are a community use is complete rubbish. Ultimately the cancer stuff sounds like PR – the fact is the church was an open door and free to attend and if he was given permission it would cost money.
“St Mark’s is not a mausoleum, it is not a relic, it is a thriving community church that provides a social service that nowhere else can provide. Why can’t Mr Hammer find another building or a church without a congregation?” |
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