Permission granted for disused school to be turned into a mosque with classrooms

The Essex Street development, formerly home to Walsall Local History Centre, will also see the old caretaker’s two-storey house turned into a ground floor mortuary and first floor flat.

Plans for the proposal received seven letters of objections from residents.

Their concerns included parking, traffic congestion, noise and disturbance. Essex Street faces parking problems like many roads across the borough.

The terraced houses built in the Edwardian era weren’t made to accommodate modern levels of car ownership.

Due to traffic concerns, planning officers recommended the application be refused.

However, members of the planning committee pointed out most visitors would be travelling to the proposed facility on foot.