Plans for new Perth mosque put on hold by developers.

Developers who had submitted finalised proposals for a new mosque in Perth have put their bid on hold, withdrawing their blueprints before councillors could rubberstamp the ambitious plans.

The saga surrounding a proposed new mosque in the Fair City has been rumbling on for years now, and had looked to be drawing to a conclusion when plans were officially lodged in June.

But on Thursday, trustees withdrew their plans on behalf of Perth Islamic Society. Proposals have been discussed for years, but not formalised until this summer.

The plans had sparked hate-fuelled protests by farright group the Scottish Defence League, which hosted a demonstration in Perth city centre opposing the plans just over three years ago.

However, the extremist group was chased out of town by thousands of supporters backing the Islamic Society’s bid for a new home.

The society pushed ahead with preparing blueprints for an opulent new centre which, if approved, would have had a community centre, cr è che and education centre, along with parking spaces for vehicles and bikes.

Speaking previously, a society spokesman said: “The main purpose of the building is to provide enhanced place of worship facilities for the community, enabling both male and female to attend all the prayers.

“Prayer sessions are to be morning, lunchtime, midafternoon and evening, with 10 to 15 persons attending each prayer session.”

But their proposals this summer for a mosque on Jeanfield Road did meet some resistance from neighbours.

Some raised concerns over the impact an influx of traffic would have on the already busy thoroughfare.

Perth and Kinross Council’ s planning department received a handful of letters from citizens, some supporting and some objecting, most of which focused on parking fears.

But before planning officers or councillors could address these issues, the society announced they would not be proceeding with the plans.

It is unclear if the group will be returning with revised designs, but Perth Islamic Society said there are now around 650 members of the local Muslim community, with worshippers using an upstairs flat on Glasgow Road to pray in.

“The main purpose of the building is to provide enhanced place of worship facilities

SHELVED: The proposed site on Jeanfield Road and, inset, an artist’s impression of the mosque which would have had associated parking.