Well did you guess correctly? Commander Charlewood RN ret'd wrote to the planning authorities on the 14 Febuary 1955, 108 days after the letter suggesting an application should be submitted.

page13_1000491 14 February 1955
The Area Planning Officer
Civic Centre, East Borough, Wimborne, Dorset.
Dear Sir,
Planning Application No 404833
Proposed site for Church, Bournemouth Road, West Parley

With reference to your letter HA/MH dated the 29 October 1954, I am directed by the West Parley Parochial Church Council to make formal application that the land referred to in Planning Application No 404833 may be used for the erection of a Church subject to the following condition, namely, that there shall be provided a hardened forecourt of a depth of at least forty feet adjoining the Bournemouth Road, entry to which should be twenty feet wide and that any hedge or fence on each side thereof should not exceed three feet in height above road level
Yours faithfully, C J Charlewood Hon Secretary to the West Parley Parochial Church Council

There is no formal reply to this letter on file, at least not seen so far, but you can take it that planning permission was given. So confident are the P C C now that they are going public with the news of a new church. This letter from Tweedale & Riley, Estate Agents dated 13 July 1955, is an amusing snippet. Do we infer that the site contained their advertisement of plots for sale in Winnards Close? There is nothing on file to indicate what, if anything, the P C C did put up once the final bungalow had been sold in Winnards Close.

Tweedales letter In reply to your letter of even date, there are still five plots to be disposed of on the Winnards Close estate and we should like to leave our board as it is, until these plots are sold. They are selling at fairly regular intervals, and it will probably not be very long now, until the entire estate is cleared up.
We shall then be very pleased to make the board available to you to advertise the site for the new church and appreciate your offer to mention the firm, which we shall. of course. be very pleased to accept.
We have made a note to get in touch with you as soon as the remaining plots are sold.

Well it pays to advertise. But a brave decision has been taken by the P C C requiring some positive thinking. A bold step is needed. Number one priority - MONEY. In this regard the P C C were not shy and quickly got off the mark as the next letter shows.

page13_1000496 letter dated 18 July 1955
T A M Falkner Esq
Secretary to the Salisbury Diocesan Pastoral Committee
The Close, Salisbury, Wilts

Dear Mr Falkner
Parley Cross
I am directed by the West Parley Parochial Church Council to inform you that at a meeting on the 18th July 1955, it was resolved that the Council approves the drawing up of a plan to erect a dual purpose building on the Parley Cross Site and the opening of a Building Fund for the purpose.
That the Salisbury Diocesan Pastoral Committee be asked to state to what extent building costs can be met from Diocesan funds.
Yours sincerely, C J Charlewood Hon Secretary to the West Parley Parochial Church Council

If you don't ask you don't get and a favourable response was quickly forthcoming. The following letter shows that at the time the church authorities were riding two horses at once, or more accurately two schemes. Parley Cross and Trickets Cross, both in the context of the parish of All Saints. Earlier in this history a comment has been made on the shape of the parish the boundaries of which have not changed, they are the same as they were hundreds of years ago¹. It is a shame that the authorities did not take this opportunity to look at the parish boundaries for the whole Ferndown area. It was being developed, it was in a state of flux but it was becoming clear which way things were going. Development could not take place in the direction of Bournemouth, no room, it had to go the way it has. How much better it would have been if the Trickets Cross / Ferndown / Parley parishes had been divided on a common sense population based boundary.

As further evidence of this broader picture you can view a letter dated 30 April 1955 written by Charlewood to the Diocesan Pastoral Committee. It includes references to developments at "the Southern end of the Parish" as well to Tricketts Cross, indicating that these must have been subjects for active discussion in the Pastoral Committee. It would have been nice if this committee had looked at a map. To view the letter click here which will open a pop up window

page13_1000497 letter dated 22 July 1955 from Salisbury Diocesan Pastoral Committee
TO Revd W J Freeman, West Parley Rectory, Dudsbury Avenue Ferndown Dorset (not Wimborne Dorset)

Dear Mr Freeman,

West Parley
I reported to the New Housing Areas sub-committee yesterday on my visit and on the two letters which Commander Charleywood sent me, one being a copy of his letter to Mr Barker.
With regard to the southern area of the parish the Committee is entirely in agreement with the proposal to erect a dual purpose hall on the Parely Cross site, and I was authorised to let you know that by way of financial assistance it is prepared to help with a grant and a loan. The grant would be for £1000. The loan would also be for £1000 repayable, interest free, in ten equal annual installments. Will you please let me know whether, in due course, the parochial church council would like to avail itself of this offer.
With regard to Tricketts Cross the committee noted with pleasure that the parochial church council had approved both the new site and the proposal that the additional ¾ acre should be acquired. It further noted that application had been made through Mr Barker to the Church Commissioners for permission to apply the sale proceeds of the piece of glebe that has recently been sold to the purchase of this extra plot. Will you please let me know the Commissioners decision in due course.
Yours sincerely

Well we have a good start. By the time everything was finished in 1957 the £2000 represented but 33% of the total cost, a fact realised from the outset.

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¹ Not entirely correct - in 1896 West Moors was removed from the parish. At the time the West Moors of today was almost entirely that - moorland and was not considered a loss to the parish.