The First Church of God in Pembroke made changes to its controversial two-storey parking lot project in an effort to appease dissenting neighbours — but so far most of the neighbours haven’t seen the revisions.

A neighbourhood committee will have to convene and collectively decide if their concerns are properly addressed.

MP for the area Nelson Bascome said yesterday: “There are a number of concessions we wanted to see.

“The church has basically addressed those concerns. I have the drawings now so that they (my constituents) can see the concessions.”

Meantime, Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield has already approved the parking facility application from the church’s leader Bishop Vernon Lambe.

Apparently, the only reason she gave the green light is because she reviewed the concessions herself.

However, when residents in the area, particularly on Crane Lane, got word of the Minister’s decision, many were furious.

“This Minister Neletha Butterfield is a joke,” said Janet Francis a Crane Lane resident.

“She has gone over everybody’s head. None of the objectors have been called into any meeting, we haven’t been told anything. Now he’s (Bishop Lambe) got permission to go ahead from the Minister?”

The applicant was within his rights to go to the Environment Minister on appeal, after being turned down by the Development Applications Board. However, the appeal was granted despite about 70 objection letters from people who live in the immediate area. Mr. Bascome was also an objector.

In a letter to those dissenters, the Minister’s Permanent Secretary Wayne Carey said: “I refer to the above appeal, which the Minister has decided to deal with directly herself, without the involvement of the Planning Inspector.

“It is the Minister’s decision to uphold the appeal and to grant planning permission for the proposed development.”

The final green light is based on whether or not a building permit is properly obtained.

Ms Francis said: “It’s an obstruction. Everything he does is an obstruction because it’s oversized for a residential area. We were told the parking lot would only be used on Sundays, but then his plan came out to let businesses in Hamilton have their employees park their so they can be shuttled into Hamilton. So he plans to make money off of it.”

A call to Bishop Lambe at his church was not returned so the information about a weekday parking service could not be verified.

Public records show that the original parking lot application went into the Department of Planning in March 2005 and was refused in October of that year.

Currently the church has about 100 parking spaces for its 1,000 seat house of worship and is looking for a considerable expansion. Overflow parking has been facilitated at Pig’s Field, but since that recreation area is due to undergo an upgrade it would be off limit to cars.