A petition has begun continuing to pursue the idea of relocating an organ back to St Keverne Church – but is it just a pipe dream?

Last month St Keverne Parish Council agreed not to take any further the suggestion to relocate the organ from the now-closed village Methodist church into the parish church, after hearing it would be too expensive and was not wanted by the church.

However, last week members were told by chairman David Lambrick that a petition was now running and it was hoped that once 1,000 signatures had been reached in favour of the relocation it would be presented to the parochial church council (PCC).

Mr Lambrick said: “There are lots of parishioners in this parish who feel very bad that the organ got thrown out of St Keverne [Church]. There is an opportunity to put a beautiful organ back in that church and I feel that’s what we’re going to do if we can do it.”

The old organ was removed in 2013, with the church saying it had woodworm and was beyond repair. It has since been gifted an organ with pedals and stops, but without pipes.

Councillor Anthony Richards pointed out that if every person who signed contributed £20, that would be £20,000 towards the relocation and restoration costs of the chapel instrument.

Parish churchwarden Pam Swabey has previously said it would cost at least £25,000 to dismantle and reassemble the organ in the parish church, with a huge amount of extra money then needed to modify it – even if it was actually wanted.

Councillor Sarah Lyne was keen to clarify this was not a parish council led petition, while councillor Roger Coombe described it as “shutting the door after the horse has bolted.”

Would you sign a petition in favour of moving St Keverne’s chapel organ to the parish church? Have your say online at thepacket.co.uk and on the Packet Newspapers Facebook page