PLANS for a new mosque in Camberley were voted down by a huge majority at a heated and charged meeting of Surrey Heath Borough Council on Wednesday evening.
The full council listened to a host of different speakers arguing both for and against the application from the Bengali Welfare Association, which proposed knocking down a 140-year-old locally-listed school and replacing it with a traditional domed mosque complete with two 100ft minarets and a morgue.
After debating the issue amongst themselves in the packed out 400-seat Camberley Theatre, the councillors voted 35 to two against the plans.
Members of the area’s Muslim population had already started leaving the meeting as councillor after councillor spoke out against the proposal. There was then a huge burst of applause from the auditorium as the final vote was announced.
The chairman of the Bengali Welfare Association, Abdul Mojid, said he was very disappointed and felt the vote had been "hijacked by political influence".
The Daily Mail quoted worshipper Ahmed Solima as saying: 'At the moment it is not a real mosque for the Muslim community. The building is falling apart. When it rains, the water comes through the roof.'
The Islamic association obviously has plenty of money for a fancy new building so they must be made to do repairs to this historic building as a matter of urgency. Council's have the power and for once, should use those powers promptly. If the building is not up to scratch within 6/9 months it should be compulsorily purchased back.
Surrey Council must not allow Tablighi Jamaat to continue to neglect the site while issuing constant planning applications for something totally out of keeping with the local area in the same way that Newham Council allowed them to, until very recently, at the Abbeymills site (aka Megamosque).
This is time for firm decisive action. Enforce the historic building into proper condition on pain of losing it. Any further nonsense about new building will not be tolerated. And they must take the same attitude with Tablighi Jamaat's other holdings in Camberley. Looking at local news and websites local people are not happy that their local pub, the Dolphin which seemed to be a flourishing place with a good kitchen and beer cellar was bought and closed down. There are also suggestions that men acting for Tablighi Jamaat have bought, or are bidding for, the TA Hall and/or the cinema. My husband saw the crowd assembling for the meeting on TV news last night. He says that the EDL were there giving vocal encouragement although I have not link to any report of this one line. The residents of Camberwell must be vigilant.
Posted on 03/11/2010 4:27 AM by Esmerelda Weatherwax
.jpg)
%20(2).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
