Multicultural community centre plans rejected

The building would have been built on a brownfield site off Canal Road

Plans for a well supported multicultural community centre in Herefordshire have been rejected.

Hereford Islamic Society requested permission to build the new centre on a half-hectare brownfield site off Canal Road in Hereford.

The Bishop of Hereford was one of 39 people to write in support of the plans.

But others, including Historic England, objected to the traffic and parking issues it would generate.

Historic England said the plans "would cause a high level of harm to the significance" of the remains of the medieval Blackfriars Friary.

The plans would have seen the new building built partly within the monument's grounds.

Mohamed Hassan, who supported the plans, said: "As a resident of Hereford, I find it very important to have a mosque here."

Fellow supporter Khizra Waheed said: “Owing to the growing community of Muslims in Hereford, I think it would be an amazing idea to have a mosque."

Bishop of Hereford the Right Rev Richard Jackson wrote: "The scope for community cohesion and dialogue and enrichment of the wider Hereford community can be achieved I believe through this centre."

Herefordshire Council's senior building conservation officer Conor Ruttledge said that plans would need more details, such as its "potential visual prominence and invasive groundworks".

Planning officer Ollie Jones said this, coupled with “a significant part” of the site being at risk of flooding, justified refusing the scheme.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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