MOSQUE PLANS FOR FORMER CHAPEL GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD:
IT WILL BE AVAILABLE YEAR ROUND BUT‘MAINLY HOLIDAY USE’
PLANS to turn a former chapel into a mosque and meditation centre have been given the green light by national park planning chiefs.
Earlier this year an application was lodged to convert the former Capel Moriah in Llanbedr, near Harlech, by removing the pews and railings from inside the Grade II listed building.
The plans, which have now been decided upon by the Snowdonia National Park Authority,would see the venue (pictured right) re-opened as the ‘Jamia Almaarif Mosque and Meditation Centre.’
It hit the headlines after right wing commentator and former Daily Mail columnist, Katie Hopkins, described the proposals in a tweet as “treachery.”
But the applicants described the village as the “ideal location to find peace”.
Fatima Bodhee, a director of Jamia Almaarif, added that the site would be mainly used in the holiday season but would provide “Islamic and nonIslamic activities.”
“We expect for the building to be in use as a mosque mainly during the holiday season and school breaks but it will be available all year round for anyone from the Muslim faith who are travelling or living within travelling distance to pray in it and we do not expect more than 150 people visiting at any one time,” she said.
It is expected that the mosque will most likely only be full during the school holidays and in the summer period as “Llanbedr does not have a Muslim community”.
The applicants also reassured locals that anyone using the mosque will be practising silent meditation and will therefore not cause any noise disruption.
Griffith Morris of Porthmadog was one of the architects working on the chapel, which opened its doors in 1913.
Built in the “arts and crafts style of the gable-entry type”, it was awarded Grade-II listed status in 1997 as it represents “a fine early 20th Century chapel with a richly detailed Art Nouveau entrance and original interior.”
His son, Dan Morris, went on to say he would be “very pleased that the building is once again used for worship.”
The decision notice, compiled by park authority planning officers, states that the application has been approved on the proviso that work starts within five years and that certain conditions are met.
These include that the planned extension looks as similar to the main building as possible and that the pulpit and sedd fawr (deacon’s pew) are retained as well as five of the original pews.