Mosque plans met with opposition (From Sutton Guardian)
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Sutton Council receives application for mosque in Worcester Park
2:40pm Wednesday 25th July 2012 in News By James Pepper
Mosque plans for Worcester Park met with opposition
Plans for a controversial new mosque in Worcester Park have been met with fierce opposition.
Businesses and residents have joined forces to sign a petition to ensure the plans do not go ahead.
Petitions have been seen in various shops along Central Road which claim the increased traffic would bring the area to a stand still.
Sutton Council has received a submission for a place of worship at numbers 2-4 Green Lane.
Although the council are yet to confirm plans are for a mosque, the drawings which have been submitted include plans for a male and a female prayer room.
Businesses in the area are concerned that the ward's already-creaking transport infrastructure will be pushed to its limits.
Mustapha Hussain, manager at Kingfish, on Green Lane, said: "There has to be provisions in place to allow for the increased traffic. People need somewhere to park, and if that isn't accounted for, I'm against the plans."
Council requirements for the site state that proposed developments must have limited or no parking, "provided the council is satisfied that this will not result in an increase in on-street parking."
The petitions site traffic as the main issue, but scratch a little under the surface, and a different picture becomes clear.
One businessman said: "It's not just the traffic but I'm being diplomatic. This can not happen."
Back in 2009, the idea of building a mosque was touted on Green Lane but plans were never submitted, despite a group of company directors, collectively called Worcester Park Islamic Community Centre, buying a building for £250,000 in November 2009.
A council spokesman confirmed: "We have received an application and officers are currently looking into it."
Worcester Park Councillor, Roger Roberts, said: "We know that residents have serious concerns about traffic and parking and they will expect that to be considered very carefully in the application process."
Comments(3)
peaceandrespect
says...
4:49pm Sun 29 Jul 12
Guests wrote:Dear fellow Guardian readers,
Anyone concerned about this planning application should contact the Law and Freedom Foundation.
They offer a free advisory service and you can get their contact details at
http://lawandfreedom
foundation.org/
This organisation, Law and Freedom Foundation, is a racist organisation which promotes hatred, bigotry and racism. This is made even more sad by the irony in their organisation name - which suggests otherwise.
There are a few of us who actually want Worcester Park to be a happy, tolerant and peaceful town - and this cannot be achieved by inciting hatred towards any particular group.
We all know that 'traffic' is not the real issue here. The fact that the proposed plan is for a place of worship for our local Muslim neighbours is what bothers the bigots amongst us.
There are several churches in Worcester Park - which does not seem to rile locals - and why should it too?! Places if worship are peaceful institutions...promo
ting love, tolerance and respect for one another - and this includes Mosques too.
KT4 Resident
says...
2:12pm Sat 11 Aug 12
Before blindly believing the claims of the above, uneducated bigot, you may wish to actually read the planning application, which is on the London Borough of Sutton's website. There you will learn the following:
That the first attempt to establish this mosque was without submitting a planning application, whilst denying that any plan existed .
That the local council had to install bollards at this location, because visitors to the (officially non-existent) mosque , simply parked across the pavement in front.
That the application claims there are ample parking places along the adjacent road, but declines to mention that they are painted with double yellow lines, because the location is the major traffic junction.
That the other proposed solution is to utilise the nearest local car park, which according to the planning application, shows it is already at near capacity.
That OVERWHELMINGLY the names and address claimed to be supporting the application are from outside the London Borough of Sutton and strangely, some are located closer to existing mosques.
That the planning application states a capacity of 140, and lists 220 supporters, but the same application claims no more than 10-15 visitors at a time... and declines to justify the claim and conflicting data.
That of the named 200+ supporters of the application, in some cases, the same names and addresses appear multiple times.
That according to data provided in the actual planning application, all other local mosques receive hundreds of visitors and unlike this location, the other mosques have car parking facilities.
That all existing churches in the High Street of Worcester Park also have car parking facilities, because (strangely enough) there are no other practical alternatives.
That the local MP campaigned against 180+ extra houses are currently being built along the same road - and lost. These are nearing completion and 175 of them will ONLY have road access via this busy junction.
Lastly, you can read on the local blog that one now infamous supporter of the idea of a mosque, naturally citing tolerance and respect, overlooked that their blogging history revealed an unhealthy intolerance, disrespect and contempt of Christian beliefs... funny that!
If you actually read it, you will easily determine that this planning application has no credibility, like Mustapha Hussain, manager at Kingfish.
But if your agenda is hatred, bigotry and racism, you will either blindly support it like 'peaceandrespect' or blindly oppose it, either way from a position of equal ignorance.
Guests says...
6:50pm Fri 27 Jul 12
They offer a free advisory service and you can get their contact details at
http://lawandfreedom
foundation.org/