Year long battle for Dudley Mosque waiting planning permission

The ongoing dispute between Dudley Council and the Dudley Muslim Association concerning the development of an £18 million Mosque and community Centre came to a head last month in a final public inquiry.

The inquiry came after the Dudley Muslim Association appealed against the Council’s decision to reject plans to build a mosque on a key site in Dudley which is also close to the town centre. When the plan was rejected by the council, Khurshid Ahmed, chairman of the DMA, told the BBC, “We have it in writing from the council at that time that only a mosque and a community centre will be built as a condition of that particular land exchange.

The only condition was that it would be a super-quality building because it was near the town centre.” It is believed that the refusal of the council to allow the Mosque and community centre to be built was largely influenced by public petitions against it. The council was given 70 petitions with over 22,000 signatures objecting to the development plans. Opponents of the plan have argued that there was just over 11 hectares of available land for industry left in Dudley and therefore the site planned for the construction of the mosque and community centre would be better placed for industrial development. Dudley Council’s Barrister, Anthony Crean, described the land as “an ideal employment site.”

The council have further argued that the proposals put forward by Dudley Muslim Association would not generate nearly enough jobs for the community. Dudley Muslim Association said the new developments would provide 112 jobs open to the whole of the community but during the inquest, Crean argued that there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that the DMA could generate the money to fund the employment. The cost was estimated at around £2 million every year. However, Muslim Association spokesman, Peter Goatley, told Philip Asquith, the government inspector that there was enough land for industrial development elsewhere in Dudley.

He further stated that the mosque and community centre development would create more jobs and would also provide opportunities for training for all sections of the community. The first day of the public inquiry saw clashes in the public gallery resulting in the intervention of security forces and policemen. A spokesman for Dudley Council would not comment on the current status of the dispute but told The Muslim News: “The public inquiry held by the government planning inspector has now concluded. The planning inspector will announce his decision at a later date.”