Dudley Mosque: Councillor hits out at political 'farce'
A leading councillor has hit out at fellow council members for putting politics ahead of the move to settle the saga over plans for a new mosque in Dudley.
Dudley Council is set to reject a £325,000 out-of-court settlement by Dudley Muslim Association to resolve the dispute over the Hall Street site.
It comes after councillors on a scrutiny panel recommended the offer was refused and court action pursued.
Dudley Council's cabinet is set to make a final decision at its meeting this Monday. If the proposal from the DMA is accepted the group would retain ownership of the site and the council would end its bid to invoke its buy-back clause.
But if it is refused the matter will continue to a High Court hearing in October after the DMA previously appealed a decision which would allow the council to buy back the land.
Meanwhile Dudley Council has offered to set up an action group with the DMA in a bid to find an alternative site for the new building by the end of the year.
Councillor Shaukat Ali, a former deputy leader of the controlling Labour group, was scathing of his colleagues, branding the action group project a 'farce'.
He said a previous task group had already worked on the issue to find an alternative site without resolution.
"The scrutiny committee's report isn't worth the paper it's written on," he said.
"I just think that the whole process has been lip-service.
"This talk of an action group is a farce. Nothing was achieved in the last group.
"The action group is nothing more than a distraction. It is a delaying and wasting tactic.
"The councillors are just bowing to political pressures. People are scared of losing their seats."
He also hit out at concerns from the scrutiny committee the DMA's business proposals for the mosque were 'vague' and 'any such project would take a number of years to complete'.
"I'm not worried about that," he said. "I'm reassured that everything is in place. There have been financial plans for a long time."
More than 1,000 residents tuned in to the debate as the controversial saga was discussed by the council scrutiny panel during a two-day hearing last month.
During the panel committee hearings Dr Arbab Nazir, speaking on behalf of the DMA, said the organisation wanted to build a replacement mosque and community facilities which were 'desperately' needed.
Amjid Raza, spokesman for the DMA, previously said he was disappointed by the decision by the scrutiny committee.
He said that the DMA hoped that 'justice will prevail' when the High Court hearing gets under way.
