Some great news from South Woodford. Plans to demolish and rebuild The Qu’rani Murkaz Trust (QMT) mosque , were finally rejected by the Planning Committee. This case has been running for about 18 months , and the strong local residents group has fought it every step of the way. Over 100 people attended the meeting and the committee received over 300 requests from the public to speak.
The three storey development included a ground floor prayer room, a community hall on the first floor and four residential flats on the second floor. It was rejected on the grounds that “the plan was not compatible with, or contributing to, the distinctive character of the area.The height of the building would also ‘unreasonably’ restrict sunlight and undermine privacy”.
The design as usual is deliberately flashy , and designed to dominate the local skyline. Although the capacity remains unchanged , the aim of The Qu’rani Murkaz Trust is clearly to attract more worshippers (and more donations). As you can see from the graphic…it`s 15 metres from residential properties.
A great effort by the local residents group , who will now finish the job by seeing off any appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. A local resident stated “I am pleased with the decision. I have always been supportive of the presence of the mosque but I don’t want it to be bigger. I appreciate they try to minimise the disruption during prayer time or any other congregations but having over 200 people coming out onto the street makes noise, and had it been approved, it would have got worse”.
And a word of warning to the three Redbridge councillors who voted in favour of this Islamic eyesore , don`t expect the support of the locals you stitched up !! Council elections are May 2014 , and people have long memories !!
mosqueblock 