Mosque plan creating ‘parking nightmare’ leaving locals feeling trapped in their own homes

The new mosque would be built in Dartmouth Street, West Bromwich, under plans revealed by the Bangladeshi Muslim Welfare Association earlier this year.

Only 16 parking spaces would be provided for more than 450 worshippers with narrow Dartmouth Street, Brook Street and Duke Street mostly covered in double yellow lines and with very few on-street spaces.

Sandwell Council’s planning committee met in Oldbury on Wednesday, July 24, to make a decision on the new mosque but voted to defer a decision to allow for talks between the council and the mosque over the existing parking problems and the small number of spaces included in the application.

A number of residents in Brook Street said they supported the new mosque but were very concerned by so few parking spaces. One resident, who is a doctor, said she had missed appointments because of cars blocking her home because she “physically couldn’t get off the drive.”

Another objector, who lived with her 70-year-old husband with mobility issues in Brook Street, said the amount of cars illegally parking was “absolutely horrendous and a nightmare.”

The council’s highways department said the mosque was in a “sustainable” location near public car parks and a metro stop and would have “no significant detriment” to the area.

The authority added the new mosque would ‘not improve’ the serious parking situation but would also ‘not make it significantly worse.’

West Bromwich councillor Liam Preece said the objectors “fundamentally disagreed” that the current parking situation in Dartmouth Street and the surrounding area was safe or acceptable – and many were scared following angry run-ins.

“Residents regularly face blocked drives, blocked pavements and illegal parking in this area,” he told the meeting – saying that neighbours who challenged selfish parkers had been met with “aggressive” behaviour with many left feeling “unsafe in their own homes.”

“Any increase in the capacity of the building without a significant increase in parking provision will increase the risk of these confrontations taking place in the future,” he added.

The new mosque, which would be larger than the one proposed in 2011, includes a bigger main hall with space for 370 worshippers, a hall with space for more than 230 people, classrooms, meeting rooms, a separate female prayer space for up to 135 people and a mortuary.

Ten objections and a petition with 38 signatures against the new mosque were lodged with Sandwell Council.

Reports included with the application showed that around 425 people were now visiting the Brook Street mosque – close to the proposed maximum capacity for the new mosque – and just over a third of worshippers arrived by car or car share.

The traffic survey also showed 113 cars parked during peak Friday prayers. The mosque had argued that cars could park on both sides of Brook Street – despite most of the road having parking restrictions – and Sandwell Council said the road was not wide enough for two-way traffic with cars parked on either side.

Councillor Bob Piper called for a decision to be delayed to allow for more talks, he said: “It’s all well and good saying that it won’t add anything to the existing capacity but the existing capacity clearly isn’t good enough now.”

The council said traffic wardens had visited Dartmouth Street, Brook Street and Duke Street nearly 600 times already this year but figures were not provided for the number of fines or tickets.

The existing Jami Masjid and Islamic Centre on the corner of Dartmouth Street and Brook Street would close to make way for the new mosque. Fenced-off land in Duke Street between the existing and proposed mosques would be cleaned up and turned into a nine-space car park.

Sandwell Council originally approved plans to build a new mosque on the land, which was previously home to the Hop and Barleycorn pub, in 2011. The project was eventually mothballed with the BMWA blaming the economic downturn for bringing the work to a halt.

The plan to build the new mosque on the land in 2011 came with a condition that the association’s existing mosque at 67 Dartmouth Street would stop being used to make way for the new mosque. This ruling was made despite concerns from neighbours about the lack of parking.

The council’s highways department said it had concerns about the new mosque – which would accommodate up to 340 worshippers – after they found that at least an extra 80 cars parked on the residential street at peak times during Friday prayers.

There were also disagreements about the design of the mosque – with the council’s planners firstly advising that it should not include a dome, which was then included in the plans anyway, and said a proposed minaret was too tall.

The council eventually said it was willing to accept a smaller dome which led to the plans being redrawn.

That was not the end of the row – with BWMA going on to Sandwell Council’s decision after permission was granted over the disputed use of its existing mosque. This led to an intervention from the then secretary of state – with the disagreement expected to be decided at a hearing by the government’s planning inspectors.

After the council approved the new mosque under the impression that the Bangladeshi Muslim Welfare Association would leave 67 Dartmouth Street, the association went on to challenge the decision saying it had no intention of leaving and would still be using its existing building for training, education and advice as well as meetings – but not for worship.

After originally choosing to fight the decision, the council eventually dropped on the advice of lawyers who feared the council would be liable for a “considerable” payout. The council eventually reached an agreement with BWMA which prevented the plans from being decided by the government.