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A long-awaited mosque for New Territories Muslims has been given preliminary approval by officials after almost a decade of complaints by residents opposed to its construction.

Planning chiefs recently approved the project in principle, and the Lands Department has reserved the site next to Tsui Lai Gardens in Sheung Shui for the United Muslim Association, which is building the mosque.

The project has been in the pipeline for years but has hit one stumbling block after another. Initial applications in the early 1990s were rejected because of zoning issues or because the land had been set aside for other uses.

The site was suggested by the Planning Department in 1997, but opposition to the plan has proved a major obstacle, with Tsui Lai Gardens residents citing design, traffic disruption, noise and even fung shui concerns. Some also privately admitted having prejudices against Muslims.

Late last year the residents complained to the Ombudsman, claiming the government had mishandled the matter, but the complaint was later dismissed.

A spokesman for the Planning Department said that since the Ombudsman's rejection, all considerations from a planning perspective had been completed.

'We advised them [the association] to plan a design compatible with the surrounding environment and that perhaps lowering of the minaret and dome should be explored, but it is up to the architects,' he said.

A spokesman for the Lands Department confirmed the land had been reserved for the United Muslims Association but said it was still talking to other government departments, including education, as the mosque may include a school.

'We have had objections from the residents and there is a modification of plans ongoing,' he said. 'We are still processing the application and liaising with other concerned departments.'

The president of the United Muslims Association, Mohamed Alli Din, refused to complain about the time it has taken to get the project off the ground.

'It is still not final and we have to make the two minarets shorter. We have had complaints from the people in the adjacent area, but we will not complain,' he said.

'Allah has granted us the site, which we have been assured of in a letter from the Lands Department.'



Muslims prevail after decade-long fight for mosque