Plans to knock down and rebuild a mosque in Prestwich have been approved despite a 1,630 person petition opposing it.
A meeting of Bury council’s planning committee heard that Prestwich Muslim Welfare Trust wished to demolish their existing ‘outdated’ single storey
premises on Bury Old Road and replace it with a new place of worship, along with teaching and community facilities.
The footprint of the building will be 6.5m from the back edge of the pavement on Bury Old Road.
At the meeting, a representative of the nearby residential community, objecting to the proposal, spoke about current and potential future issues with
parking during Friday prayers.
He said: “The reality on the ground is intolerable. Every Friday there are cars lining both sides of Bury Old Road and adjoining streets, driveways are blocked by parked vehicles and pavements and crossing are obstructed.
“Emergency and delivery vehicles struggle to pass – this happens week after week. Despite recent promises, enforcement from Bury council and GMP is non-existent.
“Sometimes residents can’t get in or out of their own homes. This is the situation today with the existing building so how can anyone possibly suggest an expansion?”
The plans will increase the number of parking spaces on the site from 17 to 20.
The meeting heard that as part of the planning approval, the trust would contribute a sum of £6,000 to the council annually, which would be used specifically for traffic enforcement officers to potentially ticket vehicles contravening parking rules during the Friday prayers busy period.
Councillors also heard that parking stewards would be used by the mosque and that they had secured an ‘informal agreement’ with the nearby Maccabi centre, to use up to 60 parking spaces at their premises on a Friday.
There are also plans for a park and ride scheme with worshippers leaving their vehicles at nearby Heaton Park and then being transported by mini-bus to the mosque.
The mosque site is close to houses on Woodthorpe Grange, Woodthorpe Court and Bury Old Road. A representative from the trust spoke in support of the plans.
He said: “The mosque has been serving Prestwich and Whitefield since 1999 as a place of worship and learning. The challenge is that it is the only mosque in south Bury and demand has grown year after year.
“We’ve had to rely on temporary buildings but these are not fit for the future. On the concerns about traffic and parking on Fridays, we acknowledge this and are sensitive to it.
“To tackle it we have recently secured private parking close by and we have trained marshalls patrolling the area to improve the situation.
“We are working closely with the highways department and will pay £6,000 annually in order to enforce penalties for inappropriate parking.
“We are confident these measures will solve the traffic and parking issues completely in the future.”
Ward councillor Alan Quinn addressed the meeting. He said: “The building is the only mosque in Bury south, there are numerous churches and synagogues but only one mosque.
“We’re talking about the demolition of a building that’s not fit for purpose.
“It will be rebuilt to the same footprint and not as high as some people fear.
“If this application was refused the mosque will still be there. Concerns have been listened to. The main issue is parking but the travel plan should reduce issues.”
Facilities in the new building include a youth recreation room, library and community meeting space, a prayer hall, mortuary and separate male and female teaching rooms.
A total of 1,180 representations were received by Bury council with 1,009 supporting the plans and 164 objecting. In addition a petition of 1,630 signatures was presented opposing the plans.
The committee voted to approve the plans.
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