Dozens of objections have been made by residents to plans for a disused church in Shaw.

Plans at St Paul's Methodist Church in Shaw received nearly 100 comments objecting to the plans, including four comments from consultees including Historic England and the Victorian Society.

Almost all of the comments related to concerns about the clearance of graves 'to build a car park over the top'. 

However, the developer has now spoken out and has said he wants to 'clear up confusion' around what the plans outline.

Don Hobson, agent of the planning application and from Design By Ltd, who have developed the plans for the new owners of the church, has stated that no graves will be removed or built over on the site. 

He says he understands that confusion has come from the wording on documents within the original application, which stated graves would be 'cleared' and a new car park would be built. 

Many people took this as the graves being removed, which Mr Hobson said he could understand but insisted that 'cleared' was referring to the restoration of the graves and removing overgrown, invasive weeds that have begun to grow in them. 

He said: "The idea is basically to refurbish that front graveyard and leave it open to the public so that people can attend those graves and sit.

"It's going to be like a peace garden, and the graves will be intact- there will be no graves tampered with or messed about with, they're all staying put."

He said the idea for this came directly from the new owners.

He also clarified that the planning application's plans with the old church building are simply seeking to repair accidental damage. 

The church was formerly owned by the Methodist Church but fell into disrepair and partially collapsed in on itself, meaning it was partially demolished.

However, Mr Hobson says when the new owners, his clients,  bought the premises they attempted to move some of the stones from the premises that had fallen inside the building for safety reasons.

He added that his clients were unaware the building's listed status meant they required permission to do this and that some accidental damage was caused to the building during the movement. 

Mr Hobson stated that the current application is simply seeking to rectify this damage and make the walls structurally safe again. 

In the future, Mr Hobson says his clients have a desire to create a community centre at the site for the whole community as well as allow for Islamic prayer there. 

He was keen to stress that the owners want this site, if it ever comes to existence, to be a hub for the wider community with the chapel hall being used for activities as well as two extra activity areas. 

Other concerns raised in objections include issues with an increase in traffic stating that the addition of 24 parking spaces will not be sufficient for the 400-500 visitors the centre would attract. 

Mr Hobson said that this application is not in relation to the building of this centre and that it could be up to nine to 10 years before anything comes to fruition. 

Further, he explained that the erection of a gable would be in order to protect an exposed section of inner wall which is currently being damaged due to exposure to the elements.

The full plans for the St Paul's Methodist Church in Shaw site can be viewed via Oldham Council's planning website.