updated 10.10.20

 Email to Chelmsford City Council 30/09/20.

We have contacted Robin Hosegood, Team Leader for Strategic Development to ask for clarification on some issues relating to the Hampton.

cc Cllrs Young, J Sosin, Chiswell

Dear Robin,

I would like to thank your team for their communication last week, detailing your decision to invite the Chelmsford Muslim Society to apply for formal planning permission for the Hamptons Sports and Leisure Club. This, we feel, is the correct decision. In our opinion the information submitted to the Planning Department by CMS, which appeared to present a small multi use prayer room alongside continued use of the building as it currently is, did not in any way represent the proposals that they separately detailed to their donors and Muslim community in general, and was an obvious attempt to downplay the worship element, presumably to appease the Council that a formal grant for Change Of Use was not required and thus give them the green light for unregulated use.

We are however very disappointed (as are many local residents) that the Council has chosen not to enforce the undeniable breach of planning control in the interim period until such a decision is made on a future planning application. It does appear that you are rewarding their transgression.

It is our concern that the CMS will delay their application as long as possible, or even not apply at all. Why would they rush, when there is no risk of enforcement? We’d like to remind you that the planning breach was first reported to you on 31/07/20 (some 10 weeks ago), and the longer this situation is allowed to continue, the higher the risk becomes of this escalating to the involvement of far right groups and protests. This is not what the Save The Hamptons group represent and it would detract from the key concerns on this proposed use.

We are sure that the council does not want to emulate the actions of Newham Council who failed to enforce against the London Markaz or Masjid-e-Ilyas for over 5 years and became national news. Hopefully you do have a plan to resolve the planning breach, and we are not forced to begin raising complaints against the Council with the option of escalating to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Currently we are being told by Essex Police and Doreen Laurie from Environmental Health (who is handing out unqualified planning advice on your behalf), that the CMS are merely renting the main hall from Hamptons Sports and Leisure for Fridays prayers. This is misinformation, if you check the Companies House listing for Hamptons Sports and Leisure Ltd, the sole shareholder is the Chelmsford Muslim Society. This is no third party hire.

Going forward we would be grateful if you could please clarify the following points :

1) Can you confirm if you have set a deadline for the submission of the formal planning application from the CMS and what is this deadline?

2) At what point will you consider enforcement action if no planning application is forthcoming? After the planning hearing? After any planning appeal? After any attempted Judicial Review? Without any confirmation of time restriction for submission of a planning application, residents are horrified at the prospect of the CMS being allowed to transgress for what could be over a year or longer.

Kind regards

The Save the Hamptons Team

RESPONSE FROM CCC RECEIVED 09.10.20

We will be challenging some of the points in this response from CCC