بريطانيا: بدء أعمال بناء مسجد السلام في بريستون

- خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

أكد "فيصل منصور" -المسؤول بجمعية "مسلمي بريستون" البريطانية- أن المنطقة ستشهد الخير الكثير في أعقاب بدء أعمال البناء في مشروع "مسجد السلام"، بعد الانتصار في معركته القضائية التي استغرقت سنوات ضد رفض المجلس المحلي منحه تراخيص البناء.

وقد طلب المسلمون السماح لهم بالحصول على تصريح مؤقت للصلاة في أحد المباني تلبيةً لرغبتهم في أداء الصلوات في جماعة إلى أن يتم الانتهاء من أعمال البناء خلال الأشهر القادمة، وعقب الموافقة أكد "فرانك دي مولفيتا" -عضو مجلس المدينة- أن بناء "مسجد السلام" في ثوبه الجديد من شأنه أن يعكس طبيعية المنطقة المحيطة. المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

يرجى الإشارة إلى المصدر عند نقل الخبر – شبكة الألوكة.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Preston: work starts on new mosque

Work is to start on controversial plans to build a multi-million pound mosque in a Preston conservation area.

Trustees at the Masjid-e-Salaam, on Watling Street Road, Fulwood, have also applied for permission to build a temporary mosque for worshippers just yards away.

They want to build on land at Sharoe Green Lane, earmarked for a second large mosque, while building work gets underway in the Fulwood conservation area.

The mosque secured planning permission after a four-year battle which saw it accepted and then thrown out, before winning an appeal against the city council’s rejection.

Faisal Mansoor, a trustee of the Preston Muslim Society, confirmed a blessing would take place by the mosque’s imam on the former hotel building on Watling Street Road followed by demolition of the building the following week.

He said: “The work is likely to take the best part of two years to complete.

“We expect the framework to go up and for the building to be watertight within the first 12 months, and then work can take place on the interior of the building.”

He said the society would ensure work takes place within the constraints set out by the planning permission granted last summer.

The society has applied for a single-storey building to go on the corner of Sharoe Green Lane and Kingsfold Avenue, which has permission for a mosque secured by the Meenawala Charitable Foundation.

Planning experts Cassidy and Ashton confirmed the building would be a temporary home for worshippers while work is carried out on Watling Street Road.

It said: “That work will involve demolishing the existing building on the site which is currently used as a mosque.

“Whilst that work is happening, the community requires a place of worship, so a planning application has been submitted for a temporary building on Sharoe Green Lane, on a site which itself has permission for the erection of a new mosque but which is not proceeding at this time.”

It said the building would be a single-storey one alongside new homes built on Kingsfold Avenue.

Today, people living close to the Watling Street Road site said they hoped the two-year building programme would not cause disruption in the area.

Bobby Cartwright, the councillor for the area on Preston Council, said she hoped work would be undertaken sympathetically.

She said: “The permission includes a lot of landscaping to ensure the building is not too obtrusive for the area and I am sure that is something the council’s planners will keep an eye on, as they would for any development.”

County councillor Frank De Molfetta, whose Preston Central North ward includes the site, said he believed the new building would enhance the character of the area.

He said: “The building which is currently there is an eyesore, not fit for anything, so this has to be an improvement.”

Watling Street Road resident Alice Wilson said she had concerns about the amount of traffic which would be created by the building work.

She said: “There will be lorries coming and going to take all that rubble away and that is before any of the work even takes place, I just hope it does not cause too much disruption.”

Neighbour Alec Littleton, who lives on Lower Bank Road, added: “There are already big queues on Watling Street Road when it is busy around there, I cannot see how this is not going to just add to those problems.”

Michael Farrington, who lives on Victoria Road, said: “I can only hope the building is something which is acceptable with the planning permission the society secured.”