A temporary mosque at a site in east London where a “Mega Mosque” was refused planning permission now faces demolition after a high court ruling, The Guardian reports.
The missionary group Tablighi Jamaat had sought planning permission to build a mosque on a 17-acre site near the Olympic Park in Stratford.
Its plans to provide a place of worship for more than 9,000 Muslims were rejected by Newham council in 2012.
Tablighi Jamaat appealed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which dismissed the proposal in October 2015.
At the time, the group was also ordered to cease using existing buildings on the site as a temporary mosque.
The ministry said its decision was based on “concerns that include local housing provision and conflict with the council’s local plan for the borough”.
There was also significant opposition from local residents, when last year more than 250,000 people signed an online petition opposing the plans for the mosque.
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Those who spearheaded the petition said that they represented “the Christian population of this great country England” and added that the mosque would “cause terrible violence and suffering”.
Since the 2015 ruling, Tablighi Jamaat has run a temporary mosque with a capacity of 2,500 on the site. The group went to the high court seeking to overturn a demolition order.
However, the court ruled in the council’s favour and ordered the mosque’s owners to pay more than £22,000 in costs to the council.
The group has until 16 February 2018 to take the case to the court of appeal.
Tablighi Jamaat bought the site in 1995 for £1.6m.
No representative of the organisation were available to comment on the high court ruling.
A spokesperson for Newham council said it now wished to see the site developed for residential and employment uses.
A spokesperson told The Guardian: “The council now expects the owners of the site to fully comply with the court’s judgement and would welcome positive dialogue to bring forward a comprehensive development proposal that the council can support.”
