Why The Extended Compliance Time?

Martin Terry, Independent Group leader at the council, said: “I am delighted with the outcome as this is the right decision.

“It is the wrong location and should not be there. But the compliance time is too long.

“In six months there could be time to appeal to the High Court and it could just go on and on and meanwhile residents are suffering.”

What sort of application gets this much leeway?

The mosque, which has been operating in an old bungalow in Fairfax Drive, Westcliff, for the past two years, has been attended by up to 150 people at a time.

However, planning inspector Felix Bourne threw out the appeal by Jaafriya Islamic Centre, made after Southend Council issued enforcement notices ordering them to shut down the mosque by this February.

Ah. Now it’s all clear…

Nasser Hussain, 56, head trustee of the centre, said: “What we need to do is read through the report properly and make sense of it and then speak to our architect about where we go from here.”

You mean, prevaricate and stall for (at least) another two years, knowing full well the council won’t enforce this..?