Above And Beyond

Thank you for all your emails and messages, we share your anger at the current situation at Hamptons. The latest decision by the council allows the Chelmsford Muslim Society a further increase in activities relating to worship and religious instruction, without ever applying for planning permission.

THE STEALTH MOSQUE

Little by little, Hamptons has become 80% mosque, 20% sports and leisure club. We’ve no doubt that if CMS can pay off their eye-watering debts, they’ll look at selling the Parkway mosque, and achieve their real aim, the “biggest mosque in Essex”

The only spanner in the works is the club’s current financial situation. It needs to take £20,000 per month to cover the bills, pay the staff (not that there’s many left) and maintain the building. Very little remains of the once booming leisure uses, and what there is, generates very little income.

The club is already operating a greatly reduced timetable, but there are always “volunteers” available to open the mosque outside of the advertised club opening hours.

How much religious use has been added ?

The covert “little by little” approach does make it appear that very little has been added in terms of religious use, until you look at the comparison table.

* Not included in the monthly hours **Based on the fact that the Iqra Learning Centre run 6 age group classes.

We’ve never agreed with the council’s opinion that the meditation classes constituted religious use, but just look at the 2022 increase in the number of hours per month of religious activity, it’s up by 542%.

During Ramadan, you can add another 42 hours of worship per month for the Taraweeh (night) prayers.

DOES IT CONSTITUTE A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE ?

Of course it does, any intensification in activity or the addition of new activities , are extactly the definition of a material a change of use. Just compare the green column to the blue.

A blind man could see that, but clearly not a heavily invested local authority with it’s own agenda.

KBO