Members of Shropshire Council’s planning committee voted in favour of proposals to change the use of the former register office at Column Lodge in Preston Street.
The building was sold by Shropshire Council to the Shropshire Bangladeshi Welfare Society in a £215,000 deal. The group wants to turn the site into a prayer centre and community room.
But the scheme has strongly divided opinion with Shropshire Council receiving more than 500 letters about the application prior to the latest petition, with 227 in support and 278 against. It has also led to the English Defence League protesting in the town outside the planned prayer centre.