A Tale Of Three Planning Breaches.

Our story begins in January 2020, just prior to the completion of the sale of Hamptons to the Chelmsford Muslim Society.

In an email between Robin Hosegood (Team Leader for Strategic Development) and Ayman Syed (Gen Sec of CMS) on 27/01/20 you can see a request for information about the planned use of the centre, and a clear statement that no planning permission had been sought (or approved) for a place of worship

BREACH NO.1

In fact the ink was barely dry on the contracts of sale, when residents began to notice arrivals and departures in the early hours at the Hamptons. Of course, this just so happened to be during Ramadan 2020 (23/04-23/05). A couple of residents did make formal reports of the planning breach, and were notified of a case being opened by Planning Enforcement ref 20/00139/ENFB

Of course the site visit was going to be pretty pointless since the council tipped off the Chelmsford Muslim Society the very day after the case was opened.

Of course the investigation came to nothing, and the council did nothing further.

Breach No.2

And we didn’t have to wait long, July 31st 2020.

In the period between Breach No.1 and 2, there was a lot of correspondence between the CMS and the planning department, where the council rejected plans for a “multifaith “ prayers room and the use of just two rooms for prayers. Again it was made clear that using the building for worship required planning permission.

Having got away with Breach No.1, the CMS celebrated Eid Al Adha at the centre, and then began to use the centre every Friday for prayers. This was of course during the early stages of the Covid pandemic. Watch our video below.

The council then took a further 11 weeks to investigate, and consider “legal opinion” and on 23.09.20 sent out this communication to residents.

Two key things to note here are the use of the same planning enforcement ref 20/00139/ENFB, and the quite clear decision that “it is the Council’s view on balance that planning permission is required in this instance”. Within a week Ayman Syed from CMS was on the telephone to the council complaining about the decision, and the council went back to “legal services” and reversed the council’s decision.

Of course, no residents or complainants were notified of this, and it wasn’t until 10.11.20 when an email from an CEO of the council informed us that :

“We have come to the conclusion that the extent of current worship / religious teaching related use is not significant, given the wider, lawful, community use of the premises.

This is based on our understanding of the extent of the current related worship use being:

(i) of part of the building on Fridays for a period of an hour to an hour and a half (or thereabouts) for prayers.

(ii) of a room on Saturday mornings by an external organisation (IQRA) for education, including some religious teaching”

Note the specific parameters, Fridays prayers and religious teaching on Saturday only.

Breach No.3

The third breach in just under a year began on 12/04/2021, when residents began to notice increasing numbers of vehicles arriving at Hamptons late at night, on a daily basis. Again, this was reported to Planning Enforcement who responded to residents with this.

The evidence of this latest use of the centre for daily prayers is substantial, even appearing on BBC News, watch the report here. We also believe the Members Bar and Dance Studio (which has been knocked through to form one large room) are now exclusively for use for worship and not for hire, with the installation of ritual ablution facilities and a prayer carpet (if they can ever raise the funds) to follow.

Given the council’s track record for moving the goalposts, we are expecting another statement like this :

“We have come to the conclusion that the use for daily prayers during Ramadan is not significant and is permissible as part of the wider, lawful, community use of the premises”

The integrity of the planning department is in tatters, and local confidence in them is very low. We are hopeful that when the Local Government Ombudsman takes them to task after our complaint, their shocking attitude will improve !

The Stealth mosque takes a step nearer !