Welcome To The Stealth Mosque.

Despite repeated assurances from Town Planning over the last 11 months, the Chelmsford Muslim Society have been allowed to bypass the planning process, and now have the mosque they always wanted and planned for !

The latest response (unsigned again) from Town Planning has finally answered some of the specific points we raised regarding what constitutes a substantial increase to the use and how the council would view the use for Eid and Ramadan. Here’s what they said:

“As already mentioned, it is the Council’s opinion, based on legal advice, that the current use of the Hamptons does not require planning permission. This is based upon the use of the centre at the time of assessment on a weekly basis as follows:

• Friday prayers: taking place late lunchtime/early afternoon

• Saturday youth group: taking place within one room of the building with a mix of activities including religious instruction

The number of people attending these weekly meetings would not be material to our considerations, given their limited duration and occurrence.

With regards to one-off or annual events such as Eid, again these in planning terms would not, either in isolation or in combination with the weekly use of the centre, be considered to amount to material change of use for which planning permission is required.

The Council is not carrying out active monitoring of the use of the centre. We consider such surveillance to be disproportionate in this instance. As already mentioned, if a further complaint is received alleging any significant change to the nature or level of use of the centre, we will investigate this.

Any enforcement investigation will be carried out in accordance with our Development Management Planning Enforcement Plan”

The key points

No limit to the number of worshippers for Friday Prayers, which could be up to 300 worshippers on a weekly basis (once the Covid restrictions are lifted). If they continue to use the Main Hall, it can accommodate double that number. This will cause noise and disturbance to the nearby residential properties, increase parking pressure and generate traffic on small local roads
The two Eid celebrations (attracting up to 1,000 worshippers) are not considered to be a material change of use. This will cause substantial noise and disturbance to the nearby residential properties, push parking pressures to breaking point and generate considerable amounts of traffic to local roads. There are a number of other Islamic festivals that will attract larger numbers.
No mention has been made of the Ramadan period (in April this year), where worshippers can arrive for early prayers at 3.30am, and pray 5 times a day. The breaking of the fast (Iftar) will attract considerable numbers on a daily basis at sunset. But no doubt the council will just say that they do not consider this to be a material change of use either.
The council have no plans to monitor the situation, and given the secretive nature of the Chelmsford Muslim Society, how will residents spot any increased activity ?
Given the council’s track record with enforcement against the Chelmsford Muslim Society, does anyone really believe that will take any action ?

A stark contrast in the numbers of attendees.

The impact on leisure activities

If the worshippers stay in the Main Hall (as seems likely now), it could have a profound effect on many of the dance groups. We believe that the CMS intends to carpet the sprung dance floor (it was measured up last year). There are other rooms for hire, but they are not really good surfaces to dance on.

Despite being in serious financial trouble, we understand CMS are actively looking for a building contractor to install ritual ablution facilities in the old members bar area. We see this as a clear indication of where the club is heading (having already closed and ripped out the bars).

Our survey has identified that many members and club users are unhappy about the loss of the bars, which takes away much of the social element of many of the dance classes.

Fridays prayers in the Main Hall are now established (despite being documented as a planning breach by the council), which does mean that the Friday Tea Dance is homeless, despite the protestations of Hampton’s “management”

Our next steps

It is clear to us that the correct process has not been followed. We will of course challenge this decision, by means of a formal complaint to the council. If we remain unsatisfied by their response, we will refer the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

In our opinion the actions of the council (and councillors) falls well short of the required standards in public office and fail to inspire public confidence.

Should you wish to register your displeasure at this awful decision, please contact:

WE FIGHT ON !

KBO

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