£1.5m mosque in legality wrangle

Reporter: by Richard Hooton
Date published: 25 August 2009


WORK has begun on building a £1.5 million mosque in Oldham despite it not having building regulation approval or the trustees legally owning the land.

The Bangladeshi community have raised concerns about the Oldham Central Masjid and Islamic Centre claiming it is twice the size it should be and will not be accessible to the wider community as agreed.

The framework of the mosque is already in place in Dew Way, off Featherstall Road North, Westwood.

Oldham Council agreed in 1998 to a long-term lease for a mosque to be built on a piece of land there. Planning permission was granted in June, 2004, with a condition that work began within five years.

It is claimed only £8,000 has been paid for the land and numerous payment dates missed.
Minutes of meetings and correspondence, seen by the Chronicle, show council officers warning the mosque’s trustees that without building regulations the development is taking place at their risk, is in breach of agreements and they have no legal right to occupy the extra land.

Membership is open to people of the Islamic faith for a one-off fee of £1,000 and a weekly subscription of £2.50. One concerned Bangladeshi resident told the Chronicle: “A lot of Bangladeshi people in Oldham are not involved in this mosque, it’s just a few people.

“They have said it’s for the wider community but they have put a bar on this with the £1,000 fee.

“The people of Westwood are in the lowest income of the whole borough and claiming more benefits than anywhere else. How is it possible for them to find that amount of money?”

Councillor Mohib Uddin, cabinet member for regeneration, said a request from the mosque’s trustees for additional land had been granted but was never formally legally incorporated into the original agreement.

Payments were received for the original site — at a discounted, Government-sanctioned price because it was for community use — and when the second area of land is legally incorporated into the agreement a further £39,000 will be owed.

But the trustees have paid the costs of diverting drains and a gas pipe since found crossing the site that is likely to wipe out the outstanding fee.

He said concerns had been rightly expressed about the membership fee, but those who paid it would have voting rights on the mosque’s future governance and the mosque would still be freely open to use by the wider community.

Building work has started under the supervision of the council’s building control officers.

He added: “We are aware that full building regulations approval is not currently in place, however, we have now received the majority of the outstanding information for this to be completed.

“Unfortunately one of the original mosque trustees has since died and Oldham Council’s legal team have been identifying exactly who to work with to formally conclude the legal agreement and finalise this deal.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Bangladeshi community to bring these matters to a swift conclusion.”

The building will have a main prayer hall, mortuary and a women’s prayer hall, accommodating up to 2,000 people in total.

But they are in need of financial support and an appeal for donations was made on Bangla TV on Sky yesterday.

Project secretary Abdul Karim was not available to comment.