Let battle recommence!
The long-running saga of a car park for a city mosque is set to take another twist today, as Political Reporter Phil Corrigan explains
CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn public open space into a mosque car park look set to win council backing – two years after the original decision was quashed after a legal challenge.
The £110,000 scheme would see 25 spaces created at the junction of Normacot Road and Lower Spring Road, Normacot, to relieve parking problems associated with the nearby Gilani Noor Mosque.
City council cabinet members approved the community car park proposals in February 2020, but the decision was challenged in court.
During a judicial review concerns were raised over the decision-making process, and in June 2021 the council agreed to scrap the original decision and start again.
A new report on the car park, complete with an updated parking survey and other evidence, will be discussed by the cabinet today. The report seeks cabinet approval to advertise, consult on and proceed with the scheme, subject to the outcome of the consultation. But the long-running saga could yet have more twists, as the cabinet’s decision could be subject to further legal challenges.
Cabinet member Dan Jellyman believes there is a solid case for creating the car park. He said: “There is a need for a community car park in this area. Traffic surveys show there are problems with on-street parking, which is resulting in road safety issues for residents.
“Hundreds of people in the area have said they need a community car park. The new report includes an updated parking survey, so we’re not relying on evidence from four years ago. All the evidence has been published, so anyone can read it.”
The survey of nearby roads found 90 to 110 parking infringements each day, largely related to parking on double yellow lines or within 10 metres of a junction. There were also up to 460 occurences a day of vehicles parking on pavements.
According to the cabinet report, the survey demonstrates the ‘significant’ parking problems in the area ‘undoubtedly remain’, with some evidence showing the situation has worsened since the previous survey in 2018.
Some objectors have raised concerns over the loss of green space, and six mature trees, which would result from the car park scheme. But the report states even if the land is turned into a car park, there would still be a ‘slight surplus’ of amenity recreation land nearby.
The £110,630 cost of the car park includes £71,445 on construction and £23,315 on professional fees. The council previously secured £20,000 from the mosque developers through a planning agreement. The report states about £27,500 could be spent on legal fees if there are further legal challenges.
Sadaqat Maqsoom, ward councillor for Lightwood North and Normacot, supports the car park and hopes it will finally go ahead.
He said: “This has been going on for so long, we need some closure to it. The council needs to deliver this community car park for the people of Normacot. When the planning application went in more than 500 people in the area said they were in favour of it, and only a small number were opposed.”