Questions raised over mosque plan

LAND in question . . . the area between Sickle Street and Waterloo Street, Glodwick

The fast-tracking of plans for an Oldham mosque before the local elections has been reported to a councillors’ watchdog.

The plans were classed as urgent business at the Planning Committee in March by the agreement of the chairman, Councillor Roger Hindle.

Although a majority of councillors approved the plans, on the night several questioned what planning grounds there were for rushing the application forward. Oldham East and Saddleworth Labour MP Phil Woolas has reported concerns to Oldham Council’s Standards Committee, which has forwarded his complaint to the Standards Board for England.

The board checks the way councillors behave and whether they are adhering to their code of conduct.

Mr Woolas has sent the board details of email traffic between officers and Councillor Hindle showing some officers were concerned about the justification for taking it as urgent business.

One asks: “Can we do this?”

Another states: “It can’t go out without a reason for it being urgent business that has to be approved by you.”

Councillor Hindle’s reply was: “We need to come up with a plan — speak at briefing later.”

The chairman told the Chronicle after the meeting that the plans were urgent business because a monetary agreement called Section 106 will be paid to cover the loss of open space in Waterloo Street and will improve land in Barlow Street and the Bolton Street kick-pitch.

But negotiations over the section 106 agreement were only resolved at the last minute.

He added: “There was also the fact that this is tied in with funding that is only available until the end of the financial year.”

Other councillors complained to the Chronicle that election leaflets featuring the planning permission for the mosque appeared in the hours immediately after the meeting.

Today Mr Woolas said: “It seemed to me that it was combining politics with the planning process and on an issue like this I think it is very dangerous, and blatant electioneering.”

The Standards Board for England confirmed it received the complaint on Tuesday. It will now decide whether to investigate, take no action or to pass the complaint back to Oldham’s Standards Committee.

Councillor Hindle said today he was aware of the report to the Board, but was waiting to see if he would be called to give evidence.