Fury has erupted in London over plans to erect a hulking 13-storey “mega mosque”.
The proposals would see the UK Albanian Muslim Community and Cultural Centre on Carlton Vale, which sits in a former pub, expanded dramatically.
Architects have put forward plans to knock down the current building and erect a 13-storey tower featuring three floors of prayer space, a morgue and a function room.
The development would also include children’s classrooms, a ground-floor cafe, restaurant space and accommodation for charitable and cultural activities.
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The scheme has been submitted to Brent Council for planning permission.
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But locals in the northwest London suburb of Queen’s Park, celebrated for its Victorian green space and charming period buildings, have pushed back hard.
One resident, who chose not to be named, told the Daily Mail last night: ‘It’s hard to understand how there is local need for a 13 storey mega-mosque in Queen’s Park when there are already 15 others in a three mile radius.’
The planning application has attracted 238 comments – the majority of which oppose the development.
The local said the building would serve “hundreds, potentially thousands” of people every day and night for prayers, weddings and funerals, generating more “traffic, parking, noise and disruption” in the area.
“The proposed size and height of the building will dominate the area, and will dwarf and overshadow the charming Baptist church right next to it,” he added.
“The design shown on the application doesn’t fit in at all with the local architecture. It looks totally out of place both in style and size.”
Planning mock-ups depict the tower looming over the neighbouring West Kilburn Baptist Church.
Objectors highlighted the area’s already congested narrow streets, with one noting that the nearby Regent’s Park mosque brings surrounding roads to a “virtual standstill” on Fridays.
Another resident, Angela Gluck, said the problem was not the purpose of the building or the religious groups.
The issue, she said, would be “the impact on the existing residents of a building that will probably be open around the clock and will block light and attract traffic”.
Local Conservative councillor Sapna Chadha added: “I fully support the right of every faith community to have appropriate places to worship. Brent is proud of its diversity, and every community deserves to practise faith freely and safely.”
But she added: “This is an exceptionally large proposal of 13 floors. Queen’s Park already experiences serious traffic congestion, parking pressures and infrastructure that has failed to keep pace with development.
“Residents have been raising these concerns for years, yet Brent Council has too often allowed growth without delivering the roads, transport improvements and local infrastructure people need.”
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Jacob Williams, of the Pickthall House think tank, looked to cool concerns over the development to GB News.
He told The People’s Channel: “This is a question of logistics… It’s not an Islamist takeover.
“The last people likely to launch such a takeover or the Albanian community. The imam of this mosque is on record as condemning Wahhabi strains of Islam and defending a moderate interpretation.
“This is not a threat to the country. It’s a logistical issue about parking.”
“I don’t think this is intended to dominate the community,” Mr Williams added.
Dan Coppel, a local finance worker, told the Mail: ‘Whilst instinctively a 13-storey mosque in northwest London arouses concerns, the fact that it is apparently Albanian is important. As a very broad generalisation, Albania for many years has been a rare beacon of religious tolerance.”
Architect Ayad Al-Tuhafi said: “The building has been deliberately set back, with the cantilever commencing at the third floor to reduce the perceived mass of the building at street level, respect the setting of the neighbouring Baptist Church, and retain its visual prominence within the streetscape.”
And in a statement, a spokesman for the UK Albanian Muslim Community and Cultural Centre said: “Traffic, noise and infrastructure have been key considerations throughout the design and planning process.
“The proposed redevelopment represents a significant investment in local community infrastructure, providing a modern, high quality facility that will support religious, educational, charitable and community activities for many years to come.
Concerns over the “mega-mosque” follow a row in the Lake District amid the construction of a similar building.
The South Lakes Islamic Centre (SLIC) in Dalton-in-Furness was given the go-ahead last year despite mass protests from residents.
“With less than one per cent of the constituency being Muslim and over 50 per cent being Christians, we feel it’s unfair and that the people of the community have had this forced upon them,” neighbour Donna Hill told GB News.
Just months ago, the SLIC was revealed to be fundraising £182,000 to finish building the three-storey mosque – despite a petition against it receiving more than 70,000 signatures and locals raising more than £11,000 in a campaign to hire a specialist barrister to challenge its planning permission.
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