Why the Net has the advantage in the ‘Undies world’
- Shopping blogger Emma Iannarilli
Shock as Dudley mosque scheme revived
Tuesday 7th September 2010, 11:29AM BST.
An artists's impression of the last mosque plan
Muslim leaders are going ahead with a controversial multi-million pound mosque in Dudley town centre after abandoning hopes an alternative site will be found.
The Dudley Muslim Association says it has “no choice” but to prepare a full planning application for a mosque and community centre on land in Hall Street. Chairman Khurshid Ahmed said members could not wait any longer.
They have decided to pursue the Hall Street proposal, which is expected to cost up to £1 2million and for which outline planning permission has already been secured. Detailed plans must be in by July next year.
The news is a hammer blow to Dudley Council. It has been involved in months of delicate negotiations with the DMA over Hall Street, which has attracted huge protests.
The authority claimed in May the DMA had agreed to ditch the scheme in favour of a scaled down proposal in Castle Hill.
The Castle Hill proposal was later ruled out sparking a fresh search for new sites.
Mr Ahmed said today: “We have no choice but to go ahead and make a full planning application for Hall Street.
“I’m very disappointed the council have not been able to come up with a viable alternative which would have resolved the issue.
“We have reached the stage where it’s all systems go. Once we start investing money and commit a budget to making the full application, it will be the point of no return.”
Mr Ahmed added architects would be instructed “within weeks” while detailed plans would be submitted “in months”.
The council rejected initial plans for the Hall Street mosque and community centre but they were granted on appeal.
A High Court judge upheld the appeal decision. Two petitions against the plan drew more than 50,000 signatures with residents saying the building would be out of keeping with Dudley’s medieval character.
By Mark Mudie
Sponsored Links
UK News
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
“Shock as Dudley mosque scheme revived”
Whats so shocking about,
we all know its going to be pushed through back doors until its built even know it will only benifit a small minority.
What a joke.
Report abuse
so the wishes of the Dudley majority christian population go ignored. The muslims allegedly are the minority in this town so why can they not have a mosque built to reflect the size of the so called minority status. i dont see state of the art facilities been built for the hard working majority of dudley residents
Report abuse
here we go again,more demos more tension,,why cant the DMA find a smaller piece of land,,AND the place is for muslims NOT the dudley people.so if a create a group called the white dudley association will it be banned,,problem is if you disagree with the muslim faith your a racist, just remember voters who to vote for next time eh
Report abuse
Are you saying these muslims are not from dudley? Or are you saying you cann’t be muslim and from dudley?
Being muslim is a religion, so you can be white and muslim and from dudley like myself. Just the same as you can be arab and a christian.
NO Dudley voter you are not a racist if you disagree with islam. That’s being silly.
Report abuse
Why do the people opposing the mosque always insist ‘everyone’ is against it. There is a very vocal minority against it. If it was ‘everyone’ then Malcolm Davis would have been elected to parliament as he was the only person standing against the mosque at the General election. Instead he finished absolutely nowhere whilst the ‘majority’ of people voted for real issues. How many people turned up to the EDL marches? A few thousand. The population of Dudley is 306,000, so again that suggests its only a very vocal minority who oppose it or care one way or the other. Get over yourselves.
Report abuse
Good man Mike, give up the ghost like the rest of em.
Report abuse
so 306,000 people in dudley and 50,000 signed a petition, well i live in dudley and always have and i was never asked to sign that petition and i wonder how many other people wern’t either. And if this isn’t a real issue then what is ?
I really don’t think your from dudley because you would know how dudley people feel about this,
Report abuse
Dudley Voter, i agree this is a joke but, i think you are ill informed. You have to remember that most land in Dudley is privately owned, the council can’t just say ‘here have this’, and as for voting, the council already rejected it once it was the high court who ruled in its favour, which has nothing to do with political parties.
I can’t help but agree though that, if this was a church or a leisure centre or something along those lines, it would have been thrown out before. At the end of the day, Dudley no longer has any ‘character’, it is quite literally a dump and this won’t make things any worse.
Report abuse
A Dudley tragedy.
Report abuse
Dudley is a heritage town, the first thing people should see as they approach Dudley is its Castle, if this mosque goes ahead at the size and height planned it will completely eclipse the view of the castle.
Report abuse
Got to think of the future majority population and their vote. IT WILL BE BUILT
Report abuse
According to the Dudley Council website, there will not be a final decision until July 2011 at the earliest.
Therefore, there is no need to stir racial tensions at the moment as it’s a waste of energy.
Report abuse
Why wait till 2011 YOU know it will be built.
Report abuse
I hope it will be built. There are some beautiful mosques in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, with great architecture.
Report abuse
wheres the money coming from for the community centre note i didnt say mosque
cost of mosque 2 million so that must mean 16 million for community centre whos paying for that
Report abuse
no need for anymore mosques there are far too many in this country as it is.
Report abuse
As their number increase,then so does the need to build more mosques.
Report abuse
If you will make sweeping comments, then PLEASE check your facts before you do so. There is no public money to be spent on this project, it is entirely funded by the local, national and international Muslim communities.
I recently went to Turkey and a local asked if I’d like to be taken to a nearby church for Sunday service. I declined as I am not a devout Christian. That said, I wonder if the rolls were reversed and the Turk happend to visit Dudley one day ……………..?
Report abuse
whos paying for the community centre
Report abuse
Fact, if this mosque gets built it will be the demise of Dudley as we know it, this could be a great medieval town with so much to offer if the council only pulled its finger out and start putting it back to the way it should be as an historic town with castle.
If this mosque is built it will be like the new mecca and thousands of muslims will move into Dudley and surrounding areas.
I am no racist and employed a number of ethnic minorities including a muslim. Through personal experience I find them very self interested, do not participated in mixed social events and mainly deal within there own circles.
women are kept closeted and anyone who does not conform to the Qur’an is regarded as a secondary citizen.
Before any Muslim’s determination to populate the country with mosques they need to look at themselves and their beliefs as it is they who need to change and start to integrate with the wider community, not to build themselves their own community centre but to use or even ‘help’ the facilities already available.
Report abuse
Demise as Dudley as we know it- Never laughed so much in my life. What a load of rubbish you talk. Lots of muslims participate in lots of events. At the moment it is Ramadan. During this period 2.5% of a persons earnings is given away to charity.
A lot of doctors in Russels Hall Hosiptal are muslim- do they not give anything back to soceity? The local mosque raised money for the special care baby unit- does this count? The earthquake in Haiti- not even a muslim country and the mosque was collecting. I really think you need to get out more.
Report abuse
Sorry meant to say Demise of Dudley as we know it.
Report abuse
If this mosque gets built it will be the demise of Dudley as we know it, this could be a great medieval town with so much to offer if the council only pulled its finger out and start putting it back to the way it should be as an historic town with castle.
If this mosque is built it will be like the new mecca and thousands of muslims will move into Dudley and surrounding areas.
Before any Muslim’s determination to populate the country with mosques they need to look at themselves and their beliefs as it is they who need to change and start to integrate with the wider community, not to build themselves their own community centre but to use facilities already available.
Report abuse
Planning permission should be refused on the grounds that the land at Hall St was designated for industrial employment end of arguement the council should neve have sold the land to the dma in the first place or pulled the plug on plans when they never met the build deadline of end 2008.
Report abuse
The Dudley Muslim Association has “no choice”? Huh? They’re the main driving force, are they not? They chose to push forward with this unquestionably controversial and what many view as hideous project. Also, that picture..where is it supposed to actually be located? There seems to be an awful lot of green space inserted into that image. When will these people learn? We DON’T want this, we have enough problems even if you are able to weather this latest economic recession with ease, to the point where you can literally throw money at projects as though money grows on trees. Open your eyes and smell the coffee..this ‘facility’ is overbearing and unwanted. I think the DMA has EVERY every choice in the matter..why play dumb?
Report abuse
Some people just don’t understand that NO is two letters and means just that NO. If this goes ahead then it shows Councils and the Government are not for the indignous population.
Why should one faith cause so much trouble for the majority? Why should their demands be continually met, yet those of others ignored. And why is one minority so demanding and intent in destroying their ‘host’ homeland?
Report abuse
Karen you don’t understand YES. Just because you are shouting the loudest! We live in a democracy let the democratic process take place- this is a fair society. If the powers you and I elected say this is wrong then fine. Just because you shout loudest does not mean you will drown the voices of other who support the idea.
Report abuse
Look on Google maps, at the absolute eyesore called Dudley – look at the huge office block near the bus station. Dudley is so neglected it looks like something out of the film ‘Escape from New York’..yet they want to throw money at this! Spend it more wisely..help the local communitieS instead of creating the impression we care only for creating a non-secular state. It’s obvious this project is huge, overbearing and that many, many thousands of people simply do not want it. Mike of Dudley, you seem to be pushing your views on the EDL rather than focusing on the bigger image..you failed to mention that the support AGAINST this project is more than EDL, and it far outweighs the declared support for it. Where does this lunacy end..where? Until there’s no space and no resources left, for fear of saying “NO”?!!!
Report abuse
““We have reached the stage where it’s all systems go. Once we start investing money and commit a budget to making the full application, it will be the point of no return.””
Sounds more a torpedo run than a civil engineering project.
Report abuse
I visited the UK in 1970. It was an English speaking country with a Christian heritage.
Things sure do change fast.
Did your politicians tell you this would happen? Is it what you want?
Report abuse
What ever happened to the saying; ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’?
Report abuse
NO MORE MOSQUES !!!!!
Report abuse
Like it or not, the DMA own the land, and will fund the project themselves, including the sale of their existing mosque situated on Castle Hill. I too am against the mosque, but purely because the size of the mosque is too large for the location. However, anyone familiar with the site will know that it is currently a derelict site that no one wants to invest him so at least this may kick start some development, although the scale of it must be reduced.
Report abuse
ignorance breads racism, a point proven in the threads.
Report abuse
Nice to see the muslim people will be walking to their mosque and community centre because by the size of the car park on the drawing it not big enough to swing a cat.
Also will this car park be avalible to all that uses the mosque/community centre or will non muslims be ordered to move their vehiles because people using the mosque have more right to car parking space because you paid for the building!
Report abuse
Folkes! I urge you all to look at item ten (10) of this shared forum.
May I make it clear (not that I ought need to) that I am not a follower of Islam and, though I am not a devout Christian, I do consider myself to be ‘classed’ as C of E as, no doubt do many of you.
In this instance, religion is not the case at the heart of this topic. I believe it is more about “If they can, then why can’t we?”
Well, YOU CAN! Start going to church (unlike me, I admit) and follow your chosen path if you feel the need. Church attendances have been falling for decades, you know!
Start donating money to Christian projects abroad and at home, to build new places of worship and community ventures in, so called Muslim places in the UK and beyond.
BUT……If you can not satisfy your need for religious gratification, please let others feel free to recognise theirs.
I advise many of the people that submit on this site to take a break from Dudley for a while and enjoy other cultures that can show friendship and compassion that us ‘Dudleyites’ appear to be lacking of, regardless of religion.
Report abuse
To be fair what ever the right or wrong of if it should be built or not, Dudley Council sold the group this land for this purpose so a Govt Inspector was always going to allow it no matter what the Council pretended later. I am not from Dudley but I have worked for a firm in this area and with the exception of the by-pass the roads are not up to taking the level of traffic this will generate (the Muslem group says it needs a lot more room for prayers the reason for moving from the present site). Is there enough parking planned? it doesn’t look like it on the picture (will Duley Council send in the parking wardens as Wolverhampton likes to do?). Its not a racist thing, I would not want something of this size built by me wether it was a mosque, church, football ground or speedway stadium. I hope for locals sakes its well sound proofed
Report abuse
Im sorry but this is just wrong, what has a muslim mosque and community centre got to do with the black country roots……… Nothing!!!! ….. This land should be made into a big community centre with sports halls and youth centres to get our young youths off the street and doing productive things with their lifes instead of on the streets with nothing to do , this will destroy Dudleys community and will cause a lot of trouble.
Report abuse
2 months ago the head of dudley council appeared on midlands today and central news on the friday before the last edl protest which was due to take place the following day and she said ” i don’t know why the edl are coming the mosque is not being built”, now we find out sneakily it IS being built. LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES. why won’t these elected liars listen to the people? 50,000 people signed petitions to say we don’t want this eyesore, the land is industrial land spend the money on building factories or somewhere for local people to work
Report abuse
You are narrow minded people!
muslims pay for it themselfs and do no harm too you or me. Would you rather have more houses built on the land? make it even more over crouded? The EDL cost the taxpayers not muslims.
Report abuse
Many mosques are of a medieval design, not unlike our Cathedrals!
Exactly how would that be out of character with a town planned by Normans (Norsemen who settled in northern France), who were not Englishmen originally, who glorified all things Roman, and who were themselves elite invaders, rulers and colonisers affiliated to a type of Christianity whose centre was in Rome.
Report abuse
What i do not get is how we are struggling for money in this day and age, but they can still find millions of pounds which is our money to fund it! People are really finding it hard to live at the moment with the money situation and then they go and decide to do this! Why Dudley?? We already have them in Dudley!! Why build more!!!! I have nothing against religion, but why build another one?? Can’t that just make the other look nicer and provide better services in the ones they currently have??
Report abuse
NO ! NO ! NO ! NO !
No more mosques – Full stop.
Report abuse
It pains me how community relations in the UK have taken a retrograde step these past few years. It also pains me on how Muslims in the Uk (And I am one) seem to go out of their way in which to stick 2 fingers up to everybody else in which to disturb the peace of this fair land.
As in every mosque application submitted we hear notions of how it will serve the community Ok, does anybody know of a mosque which actually opens its doors for others to use, you know like Jews, Hindus I mean how about a gay wedding exactly. It is pure hyperbole which is used to blind the idiots at the council (usually socialists) that Islam treats others as equals. Today Birmingham council is asking for foster parents for children of mixed faiths, yet the very council refuses to allow white people to foster coloured children. We had race riots in Birmingham between non-whites and yet everybody in positions of power refused to call it as it was..a race riot.
Until people in power start to treat everybody the same, with the same rules then the polarisation of this country will continue with the likes of the idiots of the BNP/EDL and such in one corner and the black gangs in another and the Muslims in the other. All playing the race card in which to appear the victim and all contributing to a big slide in community relations.
Treat the Dudley Muslim Association as you would somebody who wanted to put up a hacienda in the middle of Dudley. Which is never in a month of Sundays. Because if they get their way all we will see is a lot of hatred down the line for our children’s. (Who don’t mix as it is)
Report abuse
The best site would be in Mecca!
Report abuse
Demise of medieval Dudley?
Everyone is against this ?
So why will the EDL bus people in who DO NOT come from Dudley and whose actions will put another nail in the coffin of local business if there is such overwhelming opposition?
Personally I’d rather have seen a beautiful cathedral than a mosque, that I cannot deny. You do have to ask yourself though, why do we need a mosque and not a church? Is it because Christianity is on the decline (well main stream anyway)? Would there be such opposition to a hindu temple? A sinagogue? A druidic copse (we were here first mate)?
Many of the people talking about a Christian viewpoint probably haven’t been inside a church, other than for the usual arrive, hitch and despatch family events.
If you want more churchs try supporting the ones already there.
As for the application, regardless of it being for a mosque, there is a degree of bullying and crying prejudice here that is for sure and that is what is wrong here, not the fact it’s a mosque or that the applicants are muslims .
The more xenophobic rants here play right in to the hands of both ends of the seperatist argument both Islamic and nationistic. Who is caught in the middle ? The people of Dudley who just want to live, work and support their familes.
Report abuse