Express & Star

Express & Star comment: Dudley Mosque rift is over, so now it's time to heal

A Court of Appeal judgement has supported Dudley Council's case for buying back the former Nuttall factory site in the town, which has been at the centre of controversy for more than a decade.

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Hopefully this will be the end of the long and tortuous saga over the plans for the building of a new mosque with a minaret and community facilities on the 11-acre site in Hall Street.

The rowing over the Dudley Muslim Association's scheme to replace its existing Dudley Central Mosque in Castle Hill in the town centre – first submitted to the council in 2003 – has dragged on for far too long and has resulted in division, unrest and ill feeling in the local community.

The town centre has seen far too many ugly and violent scenes over the last few years, including the series of protest marches by the English Defence League and other groups from outside the area against the building of a new mosque.

The blameless traders in the town have seen loss in custom as a result of the trouble, which has seen them shuttering their shops, and policing the protests has been a major headache for West Midlands Police.

Dudley Council has also run up legal costs of more than £200,000 in the long-running dispute.

The unanimous ruling of the judges after a two-day hearing means that DMA must now hand back the Hall Street land to the council in January.

Let's hope now that everyone accepts that the process has been exhausted and a final decision has been made that will let everyone move on.

DMA, which must now pay the council's legal fees, says it needs a 'period of calm reflection' before considering whether to press on and take further legal action.

Hopefully the association and the council can get together soon to work out a sensible and non-controversial solution.

This could involve finding a fresh site for a mosque that will not result in any more ill-feeling in the Black Country borough.

On Hall Street, what is needed now is for both sides to draw a line under the matter and finally give Dudley's long-suffering community some well deserved peace.

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