A resident battle with Merton Council over a historic community hall reached a peak last week as campaigners announced plans to visit the High Court.

A row has been growing over the £3 million move of Elim Pentecostal Church to Merton Hall in Kingston Road, with the figure confirmed by the council in a Freedom of Information Act request.

As part of a freehold swap agreement, Elim Church’s warehouse in High Path would then be transformed into a new mixed ability secondary school, Harris Wimbledon Academy.

Residents voiced their outrage last week at a council call-in, which saw a motion to move the site of the move to the old Virgin Active site in Battle Close voted down.

The motion to change the move location was rejected in what was dubbed “a final lifeline” by Conservative councillor David Williams, after a series of impassioned speeches from campaigners.

Now, a judge will decide today (January 18) whether the claim should be granted permission to proceed to a full hearing by the High Court.

A fundraising website site designed to cover legal costs raised £4,555 pounds of the £5,000 goal needed to assist in saving the hall from demolition.

Residents also ran a petition to save the hall, which has reached nearly 4,000 signatures.

Last month, Wimbledon Tory Councillor Najeeb Latif had asked the council to serve a temporary notice to protect the building for consideration for listed building status by Historic England.

Organiser of the campaign to save Merton Hall, Sara Sharp, said: “The council has agreed a major introduction contract without thinking hard about it, it is political party lead, rather than thinking about the people of this borough.”

“We are not human beings in the eyes of this council, just numbers.”

Councillor David Williams said: “It is the wrong building and by extension the wrong place, it’s the pointless destruction of a valuable community asset that is a cornerstone of Merton’s heritage.”

The Elim Pentecostal Church on High Path is set to be acquired by the council, which plans on turning it into a secondary school.

Merton council numbers show over 250 extra applications for secondary school places for September 2018.

Labour councillor David Chung said: “Ultimately this discussion is about education.

“While it is important we take into consideration Merton Hall the issue is, which side do you come down on, preservation or the future of our children?”

A Merton Council spokesperson said: “Building a new school anywhere in London is a challenge, and after much research and considering a variety of options, we identified the South Wimbledon site to be the best site.

“This will in turn allow us to use their current space to build the much-needed brand new school to benefit thousands of our children of secondary school age.”