London’s proposed ‘mega-mosque’ has been allowed to complete its application for planning permission, despite calls from one councillor to remove the “illegal and irresponsible” mosque.
At Newham Council meeting last Monday night, Cllr Alan Craig asked the Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, to enforce a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to reclaim the site from the Abbey Mills Mosque Trust, members of Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat.
Cllr Craig said: “Tablighi Jamaat intend that the mega-mosque will be their new international headquarters, yet the current temporary mosque on the Abbey Mills site has now been operating illegally and irresponsibly without planning permission for two years.”
A spokesperson for the Abbey Mills Mosque Trust said: “I don’t know how it is illegal. We’ve owned the site since 1996, and we’ve been regularly meeting with the authorities, and they’re happy so long as we continue to make progress on the project.”
Sir Robin said: “The Trust have advised that they are currently preparing another application so that they can continue using the site for a further temporary period. Development of the area will have to be resident-friendly and the facilities must serve everyone in the local community. There is currently no evidence that the Trust will not do [this] and therefore we are unable to CPO the site until they submit their masterplan for the site.”