Objectors, said to include the vast majority of residents, secured a one-month deferral of the matter at a recent council committee meeting, splitting council opinion and sparking an accusation that the DUP was not listening to the electorate.

The accusation, by Ulster Unionist Councillor Carol Black, to whom objectors delivered a petition at the public services liaison committee meeting, was later refuted by Councillor David Herron, leader of the council's DUP grouping.

Lodged on behalf of Dromore Independent Methodist Church, whose congregation currently meets in Dromore Orange Hall, the contested application is for a new church, with ancillary community hall/meeting place, associated landscaping, parking and access, adjacent to 42 Rowantree Road, Dromore.

Planners had earlier turned down the proposal, but, following an office meeting attended by church representatives and a number of objectors, opted to approve the plans.

With a number of the residents present and a 20-name petition in the hands of Councillor Black, a proposal was made to defer the matter for one month, to allow those objectors apparently unable to attend the earlier office meeting to be heard at another.

According to the petition, the 20 signatures account for all but eight of the households on the Rowantree Road; three householders were unavailable when it was circulated and five wouldn't sign "for personal reasons".

It reads, "We feel that this application should not be considered as an exceptional case justifying non-residential development in the countryside, since the proposed church will not serve the local rural population, none of whom are members of this church.We object to the inevitable effects of the proposed development, such as an increase in traffic along a rural road, the removal of lengths of mature hedgerows to provide sightlines for such traffic, the prominent position of the new building on a ridgeline, the significant deterioration in the existing rural character of the area."

However, with a number of DUP councillors apparently intent on signing off on the Planners' recommended approval, the question of deferral went to a vote, with the majority of councillors passing the decision to defer the matter for a month.

Councillor Black, meanwhile, said the DUP had again chosen not to listen to the electorate and that she, while personally delighted the church plans had been approved, could not, as an elected representative, ignore the residents' petition.

"As councillors," she said, "we don't make planning decisions; we're only there to facilitate, and we have an obligation to let those people bring their views forward.

"Here once again the DUP are not listening to the people who come out to vote to put them in their positions."

Councillor Herron, however, said that while he personally was happy to go with the Planners' recommendation, not all the DUP councillors had voted against deferring the matter.