PLANS by the Jesus Army to open a drop-in centre for drug addicts, prostitutes and asylum seekers in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter are likely to be approved after police chiefs raised no objection.
The proposal to convert offices in Lionel Street into a church, meeting rooms and cafe resulted in objections from the owners of up-market bars, restaurants and hotels who fear their businesses will suffer from an increase in anti-social behaviour.
More than 250 residents and businesses signed petitions urging the city planning committee to throw the application out.
The protest was backed by the Jewellery Quarter Heritage and Regeneration Group which claims that “the Jesus Army will lead to unacceptable anti-social behaviour and an acceleration of crime”.
Residents were “worried and distressed” by the proposal, the group claimed.
Solicitors acting for the owners of Cornwall House offices in Lionel Street are threatening legal action against the council if the application is approved.
But a report by West Midlands Police raises no objections and stated that a similar Jesus Army outlet in Coventry has “generated hardly any offences”.
Planning committee members will be recommended to approve the drop-in centre at their next meeting.
Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/31/plans-for-jewellery-quarter-drop-in-centre-for-drug-addicts-set-to-be-approved-97319-29688458/#ixzz1cSQfFl3n
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