PLANS to turn a a vacant terraced house next to a mosque in a Victorian town centre conservation area into a women-only Muslim prayer space have been scaled back.

Darwen Madina Masjid applied for planning permission for the conversion of 25 Victoria Street from a vacant two storey-terraced home to a Place of Worship in January.

It caters for around 20 worshippers.

Following concerns expressed by Blackburn with Darwen Council planning officers this was withdrawn and a new smaller proposal submitted.

A supporting statement from Urban Future Planning with the new application says: "Darwen Madina Masjid has been established as a Place of Worship for over thirty years, enabling a local Muslim congregation to gather for quiet prayer as well as for children to attend after-school ‘Madrassa’ educational sessions.

"An opportunity has arisen for the organisation to acquire the adjoining property and the applicant seeks consent to change its use, to provide female-only dedicated prayer space, which is

currently not available on-site. It also allows for disabled WC provision.

"The application is a resubmitted scheme following the recent withdrawal of a previous one in March 2023.

"During the assessment, the council raised some concerns regarding the size of the proposed rear extension as well as clarification on the impact on highways.

"The development proposal has been revisited and the proposed extension has now been significantly reduced in size and scale and now comprises a single storey largely ‘infill’ extension as

opposed to a two-storey extension.

"Consequently, this has significantly reduced the potential capacity of the site and the premises will operate without detriment to the local highway network.

"The Mosque has been operating for thirty years and there have been no known concerns regarding traffic generation or parking demand to date.

"The site is located within the town centre.

"The site is within walking distance of the town’s bus interchange (300 metres) and the railway station (650metres). It can be readily accessed on foot too. There are also eight public car parks within a five-minute walk of the site.

"Whilst it is acknowledged that the size of the facility would increase, this is primarily to enable female congregation members to attend prayers at the same time as male worshippers (currently this provision is unavailable).

"The centre serves and draws it congregation from a particular section of Darwen’s small-knit Muslim community"