Residents in a leafy North West village are in uproar after plans were unveiled to concrete over their local green to make way for a mosque car park.
Locals in Chew Moor, Bolton, Greater Manchester, held a fiery public meeting after the plans came to light - with some left "horrified, angry and annoyed".
The mosque sits in what used to be Chew Moor's Methodist Church, which closed down in 2023 thanks to a lack of attendance before being converted to an Islamic site of worship a year later.
Next to it is the village green, which was "turned up" to be converted into a 19-space car park without proper planning permission.
At the meeting, Bolton councillor Martyn Cox said: "I have represented this ward on and off for 16 years... When I saw what happened last summer to what acts as the village green, I can't put into words how angry and annoyed I was."
Councillor Cox added the "turning-up" was a "wanton act of vandalism".
The car park plans were then withdrawn thanks to a lack of an environmental report - but it is said the proposals will soon be resubmitted.
Councillor Anne Galloway, who sits on Bolton Council's planning committee, explained the process to residents at the public meeting.
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"The biodiversity report was not given," she said. "If a garden is to be concreted over, the applicant has to state how they would mitigate the loss of nature.
"But this applicant has not done one, so the planning application is invalid and it has been taken off the portal."
She also said the mosque will be required to submit an ecology report, which may take up to two weeks - and counselled that any prior objections lodged against the car park will remain valid going forward.
However, some residents have lent their support to the car park.
"St John's Road is busy at rush hour, but it is also busy all through the day," one said. "Virtually every learner driver in Bolton uses it, plus motorbikes."
Another said: "I walk my dogs past two to three times a day... people park their cars on the grass."
In the meantime, the village green cannot be used for parking until it is approved and constructed, Councillor Galloway said.
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Locals in Chew Moor, Bolton, Greater Manchester, held a fiery public meeting after the plans came to light - with some left "horrified, angry and annoyed".
The mosque sits in what used to be Chew Moor's Methodist Church, which closed down in 2023 thanks to a lack of attendance before being converted to an Islamic site of worship a year later.
Next to it is the village green, which was "turned up" to be converted into a 19-space car park without proper planning permission.
At the meeting, Bolton councillor Martyn Cox said: "I have represented this ward on and off for 16 years... When I saw what happened last summer to what acts as the village green, I can't put into words how angry and annoyed I was."
Councillor Cox added the "turning-up" was a "wanton act of vandalism".
The car park plans were then withdrawn thanks to a lack of an environmental report - but it is said the proposals will soon be resubmitted.
Councillor Anne Galloway, who sits on Bolton Council's planning committee, explained the process to residents at the public meeting.
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"The biodiversity report was not given," she said. "If a garden is to be concreted over, the applicant has to state how they would mitigate the loss of nature.
"But this applicant has not done one, so the planning application is invalid and it has been taken off the portal."
She also said the mosque will be required to submit an ecology report, which may take up to two weeks - and counselled that any prior objections lodged against the car park will remain valid going forward.
However, some residents have lent their support to the car park.
"St John's Road is busy at rush hour, but it is also busy all through the day," one said. "Virtually every learner driver in Bolton uses it, plus motorbikes."
Another said: "I walk my dogs past two to three times a day... people park their cars on the grass."
In the meantime, the village green cannot be used for parking until it is approved and constructed, Councillor Galloway said.
Find Out More...