Sikh charity's plea to end church-only rule blocked

A charity's bid to overturn a historic rule that prevents a former church from being converted has been rejected.

The Miri Piri Afghan Charitable Trust had asked for the removal of a 44-year-old restriction on the former Wednesfield Methodist Church on Wood End Road, Wolverhampton, which limits its use to a church and hall.

A previous bid to convert it into a Sikh temple was turned down by the city council in 2024 over concerns it would increase traffic in an already congested area.

"The council considers that the condition continues to serve a planning purpose by limiting the scale, nature and intensity of the use undertaken from the site," planners said in rejecting the latest application.

They added: "The removal of the condition would permit occupation and use of the premises by a wider range of religious organisations and denominations.

"Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that such a variation would not result in increased attendance levels, associated vehicular movements and parking demand."

Planners also expressed concerns that there would not be enough parking to meet demand if it were to be converted.

The bid to create a temple came after an application to convert the former church, which closed in 2017, into a nursery was rejected twice by the council.

The council added that the conversion of the now-empty church hall would result in the loss of a community meeting space.

A statement included with the application said: "The permission was granted over 40 years ago in March 1982.

"Planning policy, equality legislation, religious diversity and approaches to community facilities have changed significantly since that time.

"Any impacts arising from the use of a building are normally assessed through traffic generation, parking demand, noise, hours of operation, and intensity of use.

"The denomination or faith affiliation of a user does not itself create planning harm."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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