/

The Mosque in the Wandsworth Guardian

1 min read

The following article was published on 10th April 2013 in the Wandsworth Guardian:

Plans to expand a mosque topped off with a dome will not be enough to fulfill demand, fear neighbouring residents.

An image of the mosque plans in Falcon Road, Battersea
An image of the mosque plans in Falcon Road, Battersea

The trust in charge of the Battersea Mosque, in Falcon Road, Battersea, want to extend worship areas and create a dome with a pinnacle.
The planning application also describes excavation to the basement for additional prayer rooms, new staircases and a new disabled lift.
The proposed Mosque will measure 777 sq m, which will expand the floor area by 44 per cent.
Sometimes there are up to 400 men at a time using the building, while women use the adjacent Islamic Culture and Education Centre for worship.
The application document stated: “The main objective is to extend the existing worship areas and to improve the entrance and circulation routes which at present are limited and are not viable for the large numbers of people and children using the building.”
Critics fear the building, which was originally a house, is far too small for the numbers of worshippers already visiting the mosque.
Cyril Richert, of the Clapham Junction Action Group, said: “My view is a mosque with a dome, some minarets, is perfectly fine and is good to characterise the building.
“But you can imagine something like that with a big area on some greenery and some trees like other churches in the area.
“They are making two basements in order to make more space, they are just digging down in order to make rooms – it is a bit crazy.”
Liz Walton, chairman of the Battersea Society, said it would be more suitable for the Mosque to find a larger property in Battersea.
She said: “The real problem is that the use of the Mosque has outgrown the suitability of this site as a place of worship and community activity for the numbers now attending.
“On Fridays the use of the Mosque increases traffic delays around this section of Falcon Road.”
A planning applications committee is expected to make a decision on April 11.

The planning application has been refused by Wandsworth Council, as reported in our article HERE.

Did you like reading this article? Help us write more!

Clapham Junction Insider (formerly known as the CJAG website) has been publishing local news for over 14 years and remains committed to providing information about the local community and engaging in public interest journalism.

Our goal is to feature a wide range of community campaigns and initiatives, local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, and provide assistance to residents.

We have always been dedicated to these endeavours and have no intention of changing. In fact, we would like to expand our efforts further.

Until recently, all the stories, analyses, and reports published have been made possible with the invaluable help of many volunteers. However, it requires a significant amount of time and effort, and we are frustrated that we cannot do more. There are numerous topics we would like to cover, but we require financial resources to provide regular information.

Therefore, we kindly ask our readers to consider offering financial support to sustain these efforts. Any contributions made will help support community and public interest news, as well as the expansion of our coverage in this area.

2 ways of supporting our project

Do you think what we are doing is helping the community and you want to encourage us to do more? We have set up two ways of supporting our project:

  1. Paypal: For one-off contributions, you can just use your bank card. However if you wish to encourage and support us regularly with a small amount, you will need a Paypal account to set up a monthly subscription. Click here to donate.
  2. Patreon: this is a well-known membership platform that connects content creators with supporters. Mainly, it offers financial tools that let supporters subscribe to projects that give creators a predictable income stream as they continue to create content. Click here to subscribe and support us regularly.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

CJI editor and Clapham Junction Action Group co-founder and coordinator since 2008, Cyril has lived in Clapham Junction since 2001.
He is also funder and CEO of Habilis-Digital Ltd, a digital agency creating and managing websites and Internet solutions.

View all

You might be interested in

Latest from Blog