Smethwick mosque plan rejected over parking and traffic fears
A bid to open a mosque on a busy road in Smethwick has been thrown out.
It came after councillors were forced to park on double yellow lines when visiting the site.
An application to transform a former solicitor’s office, in Bearwood Road, was rejected by Sandwell Council's planning committee after concerns over traffic.
It was the second attempt by the Gambian Islamic Centre to create a mosque after it withdrew a similar application last year.
Councillors heard the plans only provided 18 parking spaces for a building that could hold up to 250 worshippers at peak times on Friday afternoons.
A spokesman for the centre said that the mosque would serve approximately 80 Gambian families living nearby.
Mr Baba Njie, a committee member for the centre, estimated that at maximum 110 people would attend prayers during Friday afternoons, most of whom would walk to the site or arrive by public transport.
He added the centre had negotiated additional off-site parking in the rare case of more people arriving by car.
Local objectors to the scheme said the mosque would be located on a busy thoroughfare used by emergency services and surrounded by shops and local business which already suffered from traffic congestion.
Opposing the plans, Cllr Bob Piper said members of the planning committee had seen traffic problems in the area first hand.
He said: “I don’t want to get our driver into trouble but on our site visit today, on a relatively quiet Tuesday, he was forced to stop on double yellow lines because there was no where to park.”
Accepting the planning officers’ recommendation, the application was rejected with only two abstentions.
