Decision imminent as time runs out for Pickles’ megamosque enquiry

ERIC Pickles is expected to announce a decision on London’s so-called ‘megamosque’ within the next fortnight, following a three-week public inquiry last year.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was tasked with hearing the case after years of disputes and Newham Council’s rejection of planning application to build a large complex incorporating accommodation, a library, school and prayer halls.

The original plans included capacity for at least 40,000 simultaneous attendees, although these were later scaled down due to widespread negative reaction.

Stratford

The Abbey Mills site in Stratford has been owned by Tablighi Jamaat since 1996 and used as a site of worship since 2001. A dogmatic and rigid branch of Islam, Tablighi Jamaat seeks to encourage Muslims to follow a stricter version of the faith.

Those outside these beliefs, and the wider community, are viewed as negative influences to be avoided whenever possible. Campaigners against the mosque warn the megamosque would be divisive and result in a separatist rather than inclusive site.

Additional concerns addressed to Newham Council included fears about traffic and noise, plus the possibility that the site is contaminated.

Cohesion

Positive public responses to the plans included suggestions that a larger mosque is required to adequately serve the Muslim community.

Local resident Imran Abdullah commented: ‘This centre will contribute to building community cohesion and harmony within our borough’, pointing out the plans to create an area to enable women to attend the mosque and additional benefits such as job creation.

After a unanimous vote by councillors to block the plans in 2012, counter protests resulted in a public inquiry which initially ran throughout June 2014.

There were also fears of witness intimidation during the Inquiry.

Decision

The Planning Inspectorate made recommendations to Eric Pickles, although these remain unknown until the final decision is announced.

In addition, the mega-mosque’s location near the Olympic Park is seen by some as deliberately provocative, likened to the projected plan to build a mosque near New York’s Ground Zero.

The mosque owners have pointed out that the site has already been in use for this purpose since 2001, however.

‘Confident’

Alan Craig, spokesman for the MegaMosqueNoThanks campaign, told Lapido he is ‘quietly confident and optimistic’ that Pickles’ decision will be to refuse permission for the mosque to go ahead in its current form.

‘Any rational person who looks at the facts and evidence would take that position. I would be gobsmacked at the stupidity of Eric Pickles or his successor if they allowed this to go ahead.’

As with most of the objections, it is the size in particular – four times the capacity of St Paul’s Cathedral – that concerns Craig the most, as well as issues regarding the usefulness of the site for the whole community.

‘Nobody will object to a mosque that meets local needs, to appropriate plans that include shops and housing.’

There is currently some concern that the decision has been delayed for so long that it may now be deferred to the next government.

Strict rules concerning the period immediately prior to an election require that decisions with long-term implications are generally not made during this time.

A spokesperson for Newham Council confirmed that the decision is expected within the next couple of weeks, but could not give a precise date.