A charity has been the given the go-ahead to demolish a disused church hall in east Oxford and build accommodation for homeless people.

The application by Emmaus was due to be decided by the city council's east area parliament on Wednesday, April 17, but only one councillor turned up on time for the meeting, which had to be cancelled.

About 50 members of the public had turned up to discuss issues including planning applications, policing and grant requests from community groups totalling £88,181. Seven councillors and about 30 members of the public attended yesterday's meeting at Oxford Town Hall. Councillors Phil Cockayne, Robert Evans and Eric Lucas were absent, but sent their apologies, and Cllr Rob Sykes arrived late.

Four councillors voted in favour of granting Emmaus Oxford outline planning permission to build a centre for homeless people on the site of the former Temple Cowley United Reformed Church hall, in Oxford Road, opposite Cowley police station. There was one vote against the proposal and one abstention. Dr David Faulkner, chairman of Emmaus Oxford, told the meeting the project could be dropped if planning consent was not granted.

He said: "We can't raise the £1m to £2m needed for the project until we have outline planning permission, because people will not give money to a concept.

"If the application is deferred again, it will lose so much momentum that it will be very difficult to continue."

A previous application was deferred in February, when councillors asked for more details about the size of the building and the number of people it would house.

Emmaus Oxford submitted a revised application, simply seeking permission in principle to build accommodation for homeless people. The charity will now have to submit detailed plans for the site. After the meeting, Dr Faulkner said: "This now gives us the opportunity to work with residents to make sure we get it right."

A spokesman for Old Temple Cowley Residents' Association said people were concerned the charity had not informed them about a meeting held to discuss its plans.

Cllr Sarah Margetts called for the residents' association to be represented on the board set up to run the building.

Emmaus offers accommodation for homeless people along with opportunities to work.