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Parking and privacy concerns have failed to sway councillors who have granted change of use permission for a redundant chapel to become two houses.

The application for Westhouses Methodist Church, on Alfreton Road, Westhouses, to Bolsover Council triggered several concerns.

Blackwell Parish Council said additional residential parking would cause further obstruction on an already congested road, nearby residents would have increased difficulty in exiting their driveways and additional windows in the plan overlooking neighbouring properties would impact on their privacy.

Steve and Alison Morley, of Chapel Farm, Alfreton Road, said the church was on a blind bend with double yellow lines on both sides of the road indicating no parking and with no vehicle access.

Westhouses Methodist Church will become two houses after its owner won change of use permission.

They said: “There is a lot of construction involved in the plans. A lot of deliveries, possible skips required for waste and a lot of tradespeople with vehicles and equipment. Given the lack of access to the chapel and parking restrictions, this will cause a lot of disruption in our small village.”

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Annie Adlington, of Alfreton Road, said there were windows in the extension to the chapel that overlook her house and garden, while the ground level of the property was higher than on her side which enabled her home to be overlooked.

She said: “It is where our conservatory is, so people would be able to stare straight in. This would be a big invasion of privacy for us.”

The application by Mohamed Moustafa for a change of use was approved with conditions including that eight windows must be obscure-glazed.

The church closed as a place of worship in 2020. It was sold at auction for £111,000 last year.

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