Sikh community centre backed despite traffic concerns

Sandwell Council's planning committee ignored a recommendation of refusal by council officers and granted the Gurdwara Guru Hargobind Sahib temple permission to build on its existing car park in Upper Chapel Street.

The reasons for councillors rejecting officers’ advice is unclear as their online planning meeting was cut short by a technical fault.

The decision is a bitter blow for objectors who been fighting the plans for two years after a similar plan was rejected in 2018.

Sarah Badger, pleading with councillors to reject the scheme said the proposal had only 89 parking places when council highway officers said 113 were needed.

Voicing concerns over road safety, she added: "The Gurdwara often receives so many visitors, the exiting car park cannot cope with demand.

"Traffic spills out into the nearby streets and these are streets that are already heavily used by residents, business and a local school.

"Not only have we provided a mass of evidence but highway’s department themselves have conducted two independent traffic surveys, both of which found the same, that there would inevitable be a time when both the Gurdwara and the community centre would operate simultaneously."

She also claimed the community centre would lead to trees and green space being lost and was too close to existing homes.

In their report to the committee, planning officers said: "This proposal would result in the removal of the existing spaces within Gurdwara car park which would result in insufficient car parking being available for both the existing temple users and the proposed community centre."

School

Paramjit Sehdera, acting on behalf of Gurdwara, said the temple had tried to find a plan acceptable to planning officers and residents and had now limited the numbers using the centre to a maximum of 80.

Saying the temple had conducted its own traffic survey, he added the existing car park was also used by parents when picking up and dropping off their children at a nearby school.

"We seem to be at odds with the school’s activities and the Gurdwara activities," he said.

"What I’m proposing is that you wish us to stop the school from using the car park we will do that but we feel that as a community we are trying to provide something that will assist them and help them."

Before councillors voted, the webcast of the meeting was unexpectedly cut off.

Apologising for the fault, a council spokesman said:"The planning committee approved this planning application, subject to conditions around opening times, external materials and other matters to be agreed by officers in consultation with the committee chair and vice chair.

"Committee members had visited the site last year and debated the application for more than hour yesterday before reaching a decision.

"Both the agent and main objector were present and both responded to numerous questions by members.

"Council planning and highways officers also responded to questions from members."

The council added the meeting had been recorded and would be made available for public view