A mosque is hoping to extent its opening hours despite a local petition against the plans. The Muslim Cultural Centre Wollaton on Radford Bridge Road is seeking to extend the hours of opening from 6.30am to 11pm daily with the exception of the Ramadan period in order to continue to open for morning prayer during the winter months.
But there has been some local opposition to the proposal, with a petition against it receiving around 70 signatures from local residents, and two noise complaints were made against the centre last year. Retiree Graham Garton, 73, who lives at the Westhay Court and helped to organise the petition against the extension of the hours, said that the plan was "unsociable".
"I am 73 and I'm one of the youngest living there [Westhay Court], they are homes for old people and we will have a lot of noise from people going in and out at unsociable hours. This has all been going on for years and we've managed to get yellow lines to try stop some of the parking, but people going there still park down the road," Mr Garton said.
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"But the hours are a concern because you've got old people to the side and behind it. When it is prayers people park on the pavement and people with electric scooters can't get past."
The centre would open at 6.30am in February, October and November, and at 7am in January and December for early prayer. The last prayer of the day takes place two hours after sunset.
For four months of the year when daylight hours are shorter, the last prayer would take place before 9pm,the current closing time of the centre. However, for the remaining eight months of the year (March to October) the closing time is proposed to be extended until 11pm, to allow the last prayer to take place.
Other locals said that they have not been impacted negatively by the centre, with one resident commenting that those petitioning should "let people live".
Yui Peng, 27, who is a student and lives across from the centre, said: "It has always been okay for me to be honest. I did not even notice that they were trying to get longer hours.
"I wouldn't be upset if it went through as there's never a problem really. The only time when I notice is when they have prayers and it gets very busy for parking but I don't really mind."
Ms Campbell, who lives in a house opposite the centre, said those petitioning against the hours should "let people live". "I have never had any problems, they're not doing anything bad at all.
"Sometimes it can be a bind with the parking, there is some noise but it doesn't go late into the night and it's just the noise of people coming in and out. People complain about anything, they should let people live."
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The parking situation doesn't really affect me as I don't drive, but it does get busy on Fridays.
"I know that some people are frustrated as. But I don't get many problems from there even though it gets packed during Ramadan."
The mosque was previously given temporary permission in April 2021 to extend its hours, and the current application has been recommended for approval at the next Nottingham City Council planning committee on April 20. The chairman of the Muslim Cultural Centre Wollaton, Rehmat Khan, said that they had consulted with neighbours and hoped their plans would be given the final go ahead.
"I think that the majority of people are happy with us, our neighbours get that this is the only centre nearby and that it is important for Muslims in Wollaton," Mr Khan said.
"We can not currently accommodate for the late night prayer, we would be able to if we get permission. The prayer will get earlier and earlier, every year it will get 15 minutes earlier.
"There was a parking problem, so we split up our reading groups to make sure that less people were visiting and one time. And we have been encouraging people to walk and bike here.
"We are here to help and if our neighbours come to us with concerns we will listen, the council are happy with us and I thank our neighbours. We are hopeful that this will go through."
