Shane Croucher

The Boultham Dairy site, where the mosque could be located

A senior member of the Islamic Association of Lincoln (IAL) said he has “no doubt” that the latest plans to build a mosque in Lincoln will be succesful.

Dr Tanweer Ahmed of the IAL told The Lincolnite that the process of finding a suitable space to build a mosque in the city has been “very frustrating as we have been waiting a long time and spent a lot of money”.

He added that the prospect of finally having a permanent place of worship in the city is “very exciting” for the Islamic community. Local Muslims currently have to worship in the old grandstand on Carholme Road.

IAL’s quest to build a mosque in Lincoln has suffered many setbacks in recent years. An old church it purchased on Church Drive in the Boultham area was set to be converted to a mosque back in 2008, but was burnt down.

Then the IAL’s plans to build a mosque on the land where the church stood were rejected in 2009 amid local residents’ complaints about potential traffic issues.

An appeal against this decision was rejected in August 2010, leaving the IAL back at square one.

On June 17 Lidl announced it would move from St Marks to Boultham Park, the site of the old dairy. The supermarket said half of the land could be used for community purposes.

This was identified as a suitable area for the IAL to build a mosque and have submitted plans. City of Lincoln Council is now in consultation about the new proposals.

Some residents have fresh concerns over potential traffic and parking problems in the area of the proposed new mosque.

Dr Ahmed insisted that these problems have been solved as there will be 70 car parking spaces, four times more than in the previous proposed location, adding that the IAL “doesn’t want to inconvenience the residents”.

“We looked at about 10 sites and this one was the best,” he said.

Good public transport links also make the site ideal and it would be easy for local Muslim residents and students to get to the mosque.

Though Dr Ahmed is “quite optimistic” that the new plans will be accepted, should they be rejected he said the IAL will “continue to work constructively and positively” in its search for a permanent place of worship.

Photo: Kelly Moore for The Lincolnite

Almost every person asked at the Lincolnshire Show if people should be allowed to smoke in cars with children answered “no”.

Of 401 people balloted, 398 said no. The vote was held by Smoke Free Lincs Alliance (SFLA), on its stall.

While the result is overwhelming, there’s an obvious bias in that the people who are most likely to be attracted to the stall will be sympathetic or open to SFLA’s aims.

Parliament is currently considering legislation that would ban people from smoking in cars carrying children.

Ros Watson, Smoke Free Lincs Alliance Co-ordinator, said: “We had some very interesting chats with people at the Lincolnshire Show and the results of the poll were very conclusive.

“Smoking just one cigarette in a car, even with the window open, creates a greater concentration of secondhand smoke than a whole evening’s smoking in a pub.

“This new research clearly illustrates that child passengers are exposed to dangerous levels of poisonous particles from smoke.

“Opening the car window still does not reduce the levels of secondhand smoke in a car to a safe level. The smoke that remains in the vehicle, or blows back in, also lingers for hours, affecting the lungs of anyone who breathes it in.”

Pat Nurse, a member of the grassroots smokers’ rights organisation Freedom 2 Choose, said: “Smoking in cars is not about health, it’s about further de-normalisation, de-humanisation and stigmatisation of people who choose to smoke.

“Despite studies being twisted and manipulated by the vastly wealthy pharmaceutical companies and government taxpayer-funded anti-smoking industry, there’s no harm caused to anyone by smokers smoking in cars.

“However, smoker parents are quite capable of erring on the side of consideration when their children are about and will set their own policies for the good of their own families without the need for legislation.

“To bring in a law such as that is an insult to British smoker parents.”

Source: Lincolnshire County Council | Photo: Smoke Free Lincs Alliance