How do I petition for a Faculty?

The Secretary of the DAC will send to you the DAC certificate (form 1) along with all of the plans, specifications, photographs etc that you provided to support and explain your proposal. She will also send you a blank form of petition (form 2), three copies of a public notice (form 3) and a form to record the resolution of the PCC.

You should check the form 1. See if the DAC has recommended that you should consult English Heritage, the local planning authority, one or more of the national amenity societies, the Church Buildings Council or other bodies or persons. If that is the recommendation, you should follow it.
Put your proposal to the PCC and ask it to pass a resolution approving the proposal. The resolution should use the same wording as the DAC has used to describe your proposal in form 1. If you do that there will be no confusion as to exactly what you are seeking and what the DAC has recommended. Complete the PCC resolution form when the PCC has passed the resolution.
Complete the forms 3. When describing the work to be done use the wording on the Form 1.The notices advertise what is proposed, and they enable a person with an interest to object by writing to the Diocesan Registrar.  They are displayed as follows:

• if the petition relates to a parish church or its churchyard, at the parish church.
• if the petition relates to a church or place of worship or its churchyard which is not a parish church, at that church or place of worship and at the parish church.

 In each case they are displayed:

• inside the church on a notice board or other prominent place and
• on a notice board outside that church or in some other prominent position (whether on the outside of the church door or elsewhere) so that the notice is readily visible to the public.

If the petition relates to any other churchyard or burial ground, they are displayed on a notice board outside the parish church (if any) and on a notice board or other suitable place at the churchyard or burial ground so that the notice is readily visible to the public.
Where significant changes to a church are proposed, a copy of the designs, plans, photographs and other documents submitted with the petition must be displayed in the church to which the works or other proposals relate and must remain on display until the petition for a faculty has been determined.  When you send the petition to the Registrar confirm to him in writing that you will do this. 

Complete the petition and send it to the Registrar.  When describing the work to be done you should use the wording on the Form 1.  You should send it and all of the documents mentioned in the checklist at the end of the petition to the Diocesan Registrar. Do this at the same time as you put up the public notices.
The public notices must be displayed for a continuous period of not less than 28 days. At the end of that period you should complete the certificate of publication on the back of one of the public notices and send it to the Diocesan Registrar.

For further information, please contact the Diocesan Registrar, Mr Martin Follett on 01392 687415 or email mjf@michelmores.com

You can also contact the DAC Secretary Sue Thorold on 01872 247216 or click here to send an email. Please select Church Property Matters from the drop down list in the contact form, to ensure it is received  by the appropriate department.

Click here to find out more about the grant of the Faculty.

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