PLANS have been submitted to Thurrock Council to almost double the size of the mosque situated just inside Grays Town Park, adjacent to Park Road.

It is proposed to remove the roof of the existing building and build a completely new first floor under a new pitched roof.

The application has been submitted by Thurrock Islamic Education and Cultural Association.

in 2007 they applied to extend the building by converting the roof space but the application was refused following objections about possible parking problems.

In its ruling then Thurrock Council said: "The proposal is likely to lead to an exacerbation of problems associated with the lack of off-street parking to serve the building to the detriment of highways safety and the amenities of local residents."

The rejection notice said that consideration was also given to the possibility of disturbance to residents at unsocial hours and that the planned changes to the building would be detrimental and that the changes would cause a loss of privacy to nearby houses.

The Association then brought back an application for a similar roof conversion last year and that was granted approval in August this year.

Council officers said that changes to parking regulations in the area meant that the previous problems would not arise.

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A statement said: "The Council's Highways Officer has indicated that there is currently a resident's parking scheme in operation on Park Road and the surrounding road which limits parking in the area at certain times.

"As such, it is unlikely that a parking issue would be created by the extension to the Mosque as only residents can park during these times.

"The only potential impact would be from drop off and pickups."

Having gained that approval, and been granted the principle of a change to the building, the new application has been submitted.

It can be viewed here.