The Clitheroe Thursday, December 21 st, 2006 No. 6,282 news and views from the Centre of the Kingdom . www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Price 62p imes » # - ■ ■


Decision on worship plan will be made tonight


By Duncan Smith_______ LOW MOOR


CLUB held a children’s Christmas party and, judging


from the look on these


youngsters’ faces, it cer­ tainly


proved a great success!


(S171206/4)


CLITHEROE’S Muslims will find out tonight if their plans for a “place of worship and community partner­ ship centre” at the former Mount Zion chapel in Lowergate can go ahead. Large numbers of people are expected


to attend Ribble Valley Borough Coun­ cil’s Planning and Development Commit­ tee meeting, which will consider the con­ troversial proposal when it starts at 7 p.m. A strong police presence is also expected. Council planning officers have recom­ mended the application for approval, sub-


• ject to a range of conditions, but it will be up to elected councillors sitting on the planning committee to make the final decision. They can only reject the application if


there are strong planning grounds for refusal and must not be swayed by any other non-planning issues.


MERfiY CHRISTM,&S _ _ _ _ _ ■


Thursday 21st 8.30am-8.30pm Friday 22nd 8.30Lam-5.30pm < Saturday 23frd 9.00am-5.30pm


ahd'Lights-'


Christmas Eve 24th 10.00ai||-4.^pm'^ Christmas Day 25th CLOSED Boxing Day 26th CLOS^ED “ ■ " « REOPEN Wednesdayft30at#5.30pm


^ C .: King Street, Clitheroe • 01200 425151 . i i t '


. • . . :


Visit Dawson’s this Christmas. for a huge range


of accessories and gifts ALL OUR Debate on the application has raged


locally ever since it was revealed early last month. Although widely known as the “mosque


plan”, the applicants, from Clitheroe’s existing Medina Islamic Centre, stress that the new centre would serve a range of functions, of which a mosque is only one. The area’s small Muslim community has campaigned for many years to establish a local place of worship and several previ­ ous planning application relating to a site in Holden Street have been refused on planning grounds. The Muslims also tried, but failed, to buy a plot of council-owned land at the


' former Klrkmoor Road depot to establish a mosque. Earlier this month the Local Govern­


ment Ombudsman found maladministra­ tion in the way the council reached its decision not to sell the land for a mosque, although the decision itself was not criti­ cised. Although built as a Methodist chapel.


AND


the building at Lowergate was most recently used for manufacturing and the application before tonight’s meeting seeks permission for a change of use back to a place of worship and community partner­ ship centre. A separate application, also recommended for approval, seeks conser­ vation area consent to demolish factory sheds at the rear of the building to create a car park. A report to the meeting states that 400


letters of objection to the proposal, con­ taining more than 930 signatures, have been received. It summarises the various objections, though most do not constitute planning grounds for refusal. A further 177 letters, signed by 429 people, have been received in support of the applica­ tion and again the reasons are sum­ marised in the report. The outcome of tonight’s meeting will


be reported tomorrow on our website (www.clitheroetoday.co.uk) and in full in next week’s Clitheroe Advertiser and Times.


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