DUDLEY MOSQUE REJECTION “NOT RACIST”

28-02-2007

Plans for a major new mosque in Dudley were thrown out last night - but Council leader David Caunt has angrily rejected claims that the decision was tainted by racism.

The mosque, in Hall Street, has been hugely controversial from its inception, and an earlier proposal was withdrawn in the face of public protest amid fears that the building would dominate the skyline and exclude non-Muslims.

That prompted the creation of a revised scheme, which included a scaled-down minaret and a community centre for all - but even this attempt at compromise couldn't quell the opposition.

More than 22,000 letters of protest were sent to the Council, and the issue was seized on the BNP whose usual scaremongering tactics helped create an atmosphere of tension around the application.

Planning officers recommended approval of the scheme, but the town's development control committee who had the final say knocked it back last night.

That prompted Khurshid Ahmed, spokesman for Dudley Community Association, to claim that “racism” and "prejudice" had won the day, but council leader David Caunt was having none of it when he spoke to The Stirrer today.

“The Council have had very relations with minority communities and we have gone out of our way to support them” said Caunt.

“But this application was a step too far for the development control committee who made the decision on planning grounds not racist grounds.

“We were under enormous pressure to deal with this as a special case, but we have dealt with in the normal way”.

The site was earmarked in last year's Unitary Development Plan as employment land, and although it was claimed the mosque and community centre would create 120 jobs, Caunt explained that this was nowhere enough to justify the application.

He said: “This is the last remaining piece of employment land within walking distance of the town centre, and 120 jobs - even if they could be created - just isn't enough to make it qualify.”

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