Chelmsford's Third Mosque

Chelmsford does have a third mosque, the Ali Reza Islamic Centre based in Regina Rd. Building work is still ongoing, and like most projects it’s been delayed by Covid.

The Ali Reza Islamic Centre operated from its former base in Regina Road between 1980 and 2010, when it was demolished. It has since been using community bases across the city, including the Galleywood Heritage Centre.

Some of you may remember the “Community Centre” that was offered as part of the Waitrose complex on the old post office site in Victoria Rd, when that fell through previously submitted plans for the Ali Reza Centre were given approval.

It’s a well designed and self contained site, with onsite parking available to worshippers and a decent sized public car park nearby. It has good transport links, and is near to larger transport hubs and road networks. The site’s proximity to Victoria Rd means that there is always a level of background noise, which would mask any noise from the use of the mosque.

There are some new build residential properties quite nearby, but buyers have the option of not committing to living on top of a mosque if they so wish, quite the opposite to residents on the Clarion Gate development who were rather lumbered by the council’s informal decisions (without public consultation) to allow the mosque at Hamptons.

In stark contrast to the Hamptons mosque, the management team from the Ali Reza Islamic Centre have been open and transparent from the start. All the plans and progress reports have been available on social media, and there have been no “behind closed doors” decisions by the council.

We hope they are able to raise the funds to complete their project in the near future.