by Monica Derevjanik Supporters of the Gaumont State Cinema have a key meeting to look forward to in the new year, a councillor has said. Cllr Anthony Dunn, chairman of Brent s performance & finance select committee, is planning to have

by Monica Derevjanik

Supporters of the Gaumont State Cinema have a key meeting to look forward to in the new year, a councillor has said.

Cllr Anthony Dunn, chairman of Brent's performance & finance select committee, is planning to have a public meeting next month for the church and residents to discuss their hopes for the former cinema in Kilburn High Road, Kilburn.

He said: "The whole point of the meeting is to offer residents the chance to meet the ministries and the two groups to explore with each other the potential uses of the building.

"This will give the church the time to explain its vision for the future use of the building and see how the two ideas can be married together.

"The ministries are very open and forthcoming and Bishop John Francis is affable, amenable and charming. In Brixton, the Ruach Ministries are very much a part of the community and that is how they wish to be in Kilburn."

After its years of transformation into a cinema, a concert hall, and a bingo club, Ruach Inspiration Ministries purchased the building in the summer of 2008 for a place of worship.

The ministries are currently taking the cinema through a pre-application process to change the building from being a place of entertainment to a place of worship with the local authority, but no formal application has been submitted yet.

A Brent Council spokesman said: "The pre-application process is starting this week.

"We will be holding an initial meeting with the architects to discuss the kinds of things they will need to take into account when making an application for planning permission.

"As it is a listed grade two building, any proposals would need to preserve the character and quality of the building."

The Times recently went to Kilburn Square Market in Kilburn High Road, to ask residents what they would want to see in the cinema building, and many said they would like to see shops, a new club, a tea shop, or even have the building restored back to its old condition as a cinema.