Mosque plans for Hemel Hempstead finally submitted

The site of the former Nash Mills Methodist Church were the planned mosque would be

The scheme has been in the pipeline for four years, and now looks closer than ever  after the application was made public this week.

Hemel Hempstead Islamic Centre has submitted the plan for the three-storey venue to replace the Nash Mills Methodist Church building, which has been vacant for a decade.

The new building is intended to replace the prayer facilities currently at St Albans Hill, and could accommodate a maximum of 520 people, though it’s only expected to be at capacity ‘three or four times a year’.

Sketch of how the mosque at Nash Mills may look

The current building could be reused as a mosque without the need for planning consent, but the applicants wish to have a ‘purpose built building’.

Four years ago more than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for similar plans to be rejected, with local BNP members protesting.

And in May, a pig’s head was dumped at the site in a religious hate crime.

But for local residents, the real issue would be parking.

Sandra Driver, who lives nearby, said: “It looks like there’s only 35 parking spaces for somewhere that could hold hundreds. The roads nearby are atrocious already.”