There seems to be a growing phenomenon, one that appearing up and down the country, of local councils disregarding the wishes of local residents and favouring Islamic groups by imposing mosques where they are plainly not wanted. In Woodford in East London there was the long running saga of the mosque imposition which was fought through the planning system by local residents. Despite a great deal of local objections to the imposition of a mosque, the local council, which had gone from Conservative to Labour majority during the planning application process, a massive ‘mosque-strosity’ was imposed.
A similar situation has occurred in Bolton recently where a historic former pub was bought by an Islamic group, allowed to deteriorate to a point where the council gave the Muslim group permission to demolish the building. The landmark former Brierfield pub, built circa 1900 is situated in an area with a number of other Grade II listed heritage assets and is to be replaced by a mosque. The council have given permission for this to happen even though the mosque promoter’s plans for the site are not at this time fully disclosed. However, going by how other cases of this type have progressed, it is more than likely that the local authority, which politically is under no overall party control, will grant permission for this mosque to be imposed.
This is yet another example of councils taking little notice of the genuine and well founded objections of local people to the imposition of this mosque and instead allowing Muslim groups to get their own way. In the case of the former Brierfield pub, the council have not only prioritised the desires of the Islamic group over and above those who will have to live with this future mosque, but have also allowed the Islamic group to trample on local heritage.
Below is part of an article on this case from the Bolton News website which was kindly sent to me by Julia of the Ambush Predator blog. It’s a horrible story as it shows that its not just Labour councils who engage in political and planning arse-licking of Islamic groups and who don’t give two hoots about local people, but how Islamic appeasement is a cross party problem. As is usual for this blog the original text from the Bolton News is in italics whereas my comments are in plain text.
The Bolton News said:
A “LANDMARK” pub which closed in 2016 is set to be knocked down to make way for a new Islamic centre.
Exactly what the local people didn’t want
The local mosque which purchased the Brierfield pub in Blackburn Road nearly four years ago has now been granted permission to demolish it.
It looks like the Islamic group deliberately and knowingly let the building deteriorate so that heritage concerns could be more easily put to one side and the Muslims would get permission to clear the site. It’s difficult to come to any other conclusions bearing in mind that the Muslims had this building for four years and did nothing at all either to use it or to shore up and maintain the structure. This looks like cynical and deliberate neglect of a historic building.
The derelict building is set to be flattened to make way for a new development by the Masjid-e-Salaam Trust – but specific details about the future facility are yet to be revealed.
This should worry local people local people at lot. Not only have the Muslims managed to trample on local heritage by getting permission to demolish the former pub, they are also being noticeably cagey with their plans.
A total of 152 letters of objection have been sent to the council with some raising concerns about the loss of a “historic” building which “adds character” to the area.
I’m really not surprised that there were this number of objecors. It’s obvious that this mosque is not wanted by anyone but the Islamic group and people are quite rightly worried about the historic character of the area being wiped out in favour of yet another mosque. There are already said to be 38 mosques in and around the Bolton area, how on earth can there be a need for any more?
Margaret Birch spoke on behalf of residents opposing the application at a town hall meeting yesterday.
She said: “The Brierfield was built over 100 years ago and has been a landmark building in the area of Astley Bridge ever since. It is definitely part of the history of the local area. Unfortunately, since it closed in 2016, it has become an absolute blot on the landscape and has been allowed deteriorate to such an extent it is now said to be only fit for demolition.”
I think that the key words here are ‘allowed to deteriorate’. It seems likely that the Islamic group deliberately allowed the building to fall into terminal disrepair so that they could get their own way.
Of course, it would not be an iffy mosque imposition without the usual platitudes, taqiyya (dishonesty in order to promote Islam), kitman (dishonesty by ommission to promote Islam) and bullshit coming from the mouths of the mosque promoter. The Bolton News quoted the representative of the Islamic group.
Mohammed Patel, secretary of the Masjid-e-Salaam Trust, said the building is beyond repair and a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.
Well maybe if your group had maintained the building and secured it this anti social behaviour might not have occurred.
He told the committee that the trust had originally intended to retain some of the building but that option is no longer financially viable due to repeated theft and vandalism.
Sniff, sniff! Do you smell bullshit? I surely do.
Mr Patel promised that the trust would engage with residents as it prepares to submit full plans for the new development which he said will offer facilities for wider community use irrespective of faith.
These are worthless platitudes that communities up and down the land have heard before from the mouths of various Islamic Wormtongues when these groups have wanted to impose mosques on areas. This ‘for the wider community’ BS is almost word for word the same sort of guff that was heard by the people of Hainault in Essex coming from an Islamic group when a former working man’s club was taken over by a Muslim group who then turned it into a mosque. I have little doubt that at the end of the day there will be nothing in this development for local non Muslims.
He said: “Our community has a strong desire to continue playing a greater role in the Bolton family. The trust will ensure the needs of the wider community are taken into consideration and the future use is one that all the community can be proud of. The site has been derelict for several years. Demolition of the existing structure and step towards redevelopment of the site will come as welcome news to both the local authority and local residents.”
I would take Mr Patel’s statements about the potential benefit the wider community with about as much trust as I would have if someone told me ‘the cheques in the post’, ‘the car has only had one lady owner’ or ‘get in the cattle truck you are to be resettled in the East’. This building project is far from being welcomed by the local community, although it may be welcomed by the 23 Labour members of Bolton Council, eight of whom appear to be Muslim.
The Islamic group behind this latest mosque imposition seemed to have manipulated the situation regarding the former Brierfield pub for their own advantage. They neglected the bulding and then presented the council with a case where they were more inclined to allowe the building to be demolished thereby allowing the mosque group to get exactly what they wanted. The council have been played here as have the local residents. Those in other areas should be aware of the skanky way that this Islamic group has behaved and take note of it for the future because if this trick has worked once, it will be tried again.
Appendix
Here is the Heritage report regarding the former Brierfield pub and its surroundings
Here is a link to the planning application
