A huge new mosque and Islamic school could be built in a Preston conservation area. The Preston Muslim Society plan to knock down the existing Masjid-E-Salaam mosque, on Watling Street Road, Fulwood, to include a 17.5 metre tower on the top. The plans also include proposals to demolish another building, which dates back to the early 1900s, on nearby Victoria Road and rebuild it as a learning centre of seven classrooms adjoining the mosque.
More than 145 objections have been received by planners to the plans for the mosque, largely due to concerns about traffic and fears that the building will be out of character for the area. The existing building was converted from a hotel.
The proposal has prompted far-right extremists from the British National Party (BNP) to start a race-hate campaign and leaflet hundreds of homes locally. But local councillors have moved quickly to condemn the leaflet as “appalling” and said their decision to support local people’s objections to the proposals had been done on “purely planning grounds.”