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Anger over too-high mosque
Reporter: MARINA BERRY
Date online: 06 September 2010
BUILDERS have been accused of incompetence after “mistakenly” adding nearly 5ft to the height of a mosque.
Furious neighbours in Coppice have hit out at planning rules which have left them living in the shadow of a “monstrous” building, peppered with windows which will rob them of their privacy.
One resident said the decision will force her to put her home of 20 years up for sale.
She said: “I love my house, but it’s going to be horrendous.
“I have no objection to a mosque. My problem is with the size of the building. It’s a big intrusion on a small residential street. Where’s the common sense?”
Razak Ahmed, secretary of Madina Mosque and Islamic Centre, Oldham, said the fault lay with the architects.
But Architect Najib Gedal, speaking on behalf of the applicants, denied the builders were incompetent.
The revised plans, raising the height above ground by 5ft, were approved subject to the issue of two windows overlooking neighbouring properties being reconsidered with planning officers.
Full story: tonight’s Oldham Chronicle and the E-Chron — click the link (subscription required)
Comments
Simple, knock it down. I had to when it was deemed a fence i had put up once was too high.
Nothing new here. The mosque built on Featherstall Road north was built larger than the approved plan.. result = nothing. The mosque in Freehold was "jerry built" and fell down, result = nothing, the mosque on Manchester Road was refused and suprise suprise passed after minor changes. huge numbers of trees are being felled to build a huge building in an already overcrowded area. This is all for votes. We are being made fun of. The planners need to stand up to this like the French do!
I was thinking that. If she wants to get away then any possible buyer will have reservations to say the least.
spike i think you are right here, but on the other hand at least she will have a quick sale, she will have thousands of people wanting to buy her house. id be suprised if she hasnt got a few offers already.
They should knock it down and rebuild it to the correct diamensions. If they dont why bother with planning permission anyway. Planning permission is there to protect the surround area now due to "someone not paying attention" people are considering leaving there homes. This is totally unexceptable.
No doubt it will be over looked by planning as usual, as its the usual rules for one and not the other.
Marshallah great mosque.
Be it 5' or 5" the local planning dept. would have ordered any structure that had been built which did not comply with the submitted building plans to have been re-built so as to comply OR if grossly out of cinque with the plans then to be demolished. Hell will freeze over before our weak-willed local authority will act in this case but let anyone build a brick out of place in housing extensions, etc. then the full weight of local officialdom is brought in! Is it a case of one law for us and ?
It seems that everyone is on a general same wavelength here BUT ARE THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT
The builders should be made to take it down by 5ft.Everyone else has to comply with regulations.There should be no exceptions.
I'll be very surprised if the owners/builders will have to change anything to comply. Conversely, a friend is being hounded by Planners & Development Control for alterations to the INTERIOR of his own house to preserve features that are probably not original anyway.
Consistency in enforcement is totally absent.
Another reason to leave Oldham methinks. If the workmanship here is anything like the building work going on in CLarkesfield i.e. The old Lamba newsagent building, Jolly carter and the countless houses with tumbling front garden walls it will be rubble within 6 months anyway.
It's this sort of thing that encourages racism but those politically correct idiots at Oldham Council are too blinkered to realise. If this was a block of flats the builders would have had to reduce its size. It's exactly the same with double-line parking with impunity on Waterloo Road for instance, it infuriates people and makes racial tolerance virtually unobtainable.
We shall all now await the council's decision to have the building put right. How on earth it was passed in the first place is incredulous!
Will there be any action taken by the planning dept over this? there certainly should be but dont hold your breath.
This Town has had it, along with NOT SO GREAT BRITAIN. The politically correct have sold our soul, our children & their children will be left to pick up the pieces. Forced integartion is upon us, but if you speak out they try to slap you with the racist label. These clowns in office are self preservationists, the decisions they make on our behalf have no impact on their cosy little suburban lives what so ever. Little do they know, they are creating a monster. But i suppose 50k plus a year helps.
Lets see oldham planners have blinkers on this if it is not rectified there should be a public outcry, Enough is enough how much do we have to put up with. No wonder there is so much tension when there is a 1 rule for one and 1 for another.
doesnt matter what type of building it is they need to respect the neighbours who will have to look at it 24hrs a day not the odd locals from miles off coming down
i say tear the top of it off and make it a flat roof if you dont like that rebuild it
So,does this set a precedent that other builders of ALL colours can use in future? Or will it be a `pigs-can-fly`...How is it I can foretell the answer ???
What a disaster for community relations in Oldham. Whatever credibility the council's planning process might have had has now gone.
It looks like one rule for one and one rule for another - and what weak councillors we have, when will they discover a backbone ?
Thanks to Liebors changes to planning regulations this may be exactly what the architect claims. All they need do is get the initial planning permission, and after that what are deemed 'minor changes' are passed on the nod without reference to nearby residents. What might appear to be innocuous when its presented to the public can quickly change beyond all recognition, it's just another example of the socialists trying to remove what little power to object people have.
Always object to planning
When I was Chair of Planning, I would have required a report to come to Committee. If Tory John Hudson has anything about him as the current Chair he will similarly ensure that this comes before members. (N.B. If PlanCom decide to act, the applicant will have a right to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate)
Some years ago, my family had to spend a week at a relatives house because the wooden fence on an adjoining property in the same development had a triangular instead of a flat top. 3" difference!
I had a house in London then along came this Wren bloke and built this huge building slap bang in front of us, well we put the house up for sale but a great fire got there before any buyers could!!!!
Thurrock Council’s planning committee deliberated for over an hour last week whether a loft conversion should be demolished – because the roof was 2cm too high.
But as usual in Oldham its one rule for one for fear of being racist!
I would imagine the local residents would have been involved in the passing of the original plans but going off the details in the story i'm presuming they were not informed of the revised plans. My point being that if major changes can go through without people being notified, it makes a complete farce of the whole procedure.
oldham is in the mess its in because of poorly thought out and badly passed developments over the years.
different leaderships come and go, but the bad decisions continue.
take a look over in kirklees. now that is a council that have guts when it comes to enforcing planning!
Make them pull it down like everyone else has to if its wrong
Five foot is not a couple of inches. Take it down. I would not be happy looking at this monstrosity from my garden.
Answer is simple,but Oldham council must apply the law with an even hand.Doubt they will though.
Have Your Say
Good luck to the lady who wants to sell her house...your property has probably lost a third of it's value.
By spike @ 06/09/2010 11:45:57