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’. 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.”