Cambridge Mill Road mosque objection leaflets delivered

Anonymous leaflets ask Cambridge residents to object to plans for a new mosque

A leaflet asking people to object to a planning application for a £15m mosque has been sent to Cambridge residents.

The anonymous flyer asks if Mill Road "needs a megamosque... that will dominate and overbear the area", and warns of disturbance and congestion.

A spokeswoman from the Cambridge Mosque Project, which submitted the application, said the group had "no objection to people voicing opinions".

However, she said the flyer contained information that was not accurate.

The leaflet claimed the mosque would be open 24 hours a day and up to 3,000 people could attend for Ramadan.

The spokeswoman said this was not the case, and added that the mosque had "a maximum capacity of 1,000".

'Discuss concerns'

Rebecca Anderson, who lives in the Mill Road area, admitted the leaflet had made her think about "how big the structure was going to be, and how busy it might be".

She said she had found it "very helpful" and said it "highlighted some of the issues that we might face".

"Obviously those comments are perhaps trying to encourage the readership to have a certain opinion, so it could be taken as being biased in a certain way," she added.

The spokeswoman for the mosque project said: "We are disappointed that [the leafleting] has been done anonymously, because now we can't go back to them and discuss their concerns."

Interested parties have until Friday to submit comments on the planning application to Cambridge City Council.