PLANS to erect a new lecture and exam hall at a Kidderminster Islamic school are set to be given the go-ahead – months after building work had already started.

Wyre Forest District Council’s planning committee is being recommended to approve the retrospective application by Madinatul Uloom Islamic College in Heath Lane, Stone, for the new £1.5million building.

The facility on the school’s existing 25 acre site will have a floor space of around 1750 square metres to house the lecture and exam hall, as well as recreational facilities.

But the development prompted concerns in the neighbouring community when the school referred to the building as a new mosque/prayer hall. Residents questioned the intended use and potential impact a mosque would have on the area.

Speaking to the Shuttle in December, college trustee Yusuf Ibrahim Logat moved to reassure residents that they were not building a mosque and stressed it was a hall strictly for student and staff use only as they couldn’t allow members of the public to access the site at any time.

He added that the references to building a mosque or prayer hall was for fundraising and marketing purposes only.

Planning officer John Baggott met with college chiefs to clarify the situation.

In his report to committee, he said: “The intended use of the building has been at the very heart of concerns expressed, and objections made, against the development, with many claiming that the building is proposed to be used as a public mosque which is simply not the case.

“This misconception regarding the proposed use can perhaps, at least in part, be attributed to the fundraising and marketing efforts of the College.

“Funding of independent College buildings such as this is not something which tends to attract significant levels of public donation from the wider Muslim community.

“As a means of attracting funding, the College used social media and other resources, and in doing so asked prospective donors to sponsor a Musalla (Muslim prayer mat) within the new facility, which in the interests of fundraising, was unfortunately described as a mosque.

“Indeed, 3000 Musalla spaces were stated as being available for sponsorship, and on this basis it is perhaps understandable why, in some quarters, there was some confusion as to the true intended use of the proposed building.

“The College acknowledges that, with the benefit of hindsight, such a form of marketing was not best advised and should not have been carried out. It is a certain fact that it has not been at all helpful, and has in turn generated a significant level of opposition to a perceived proposed use, which was never actually intended.”

Mr Baggott added: “The circumstances of the application and its resulting retrospective nature are regrettable and such actions, no matter how and why they occur, cannot be condoned.

“The applicant’s took a decision to replace rather than repair a building, without considering the consequences, which is clearly not acceptable, and the College are the first to acknowledge this error on their part.”

Despite this, he said the retrospective application should not count against Madinatul Uloom and recommended the committee grants approval at its meeting on Tuesday, February 16.