Abbasi Islamic Centre Project

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and in this very first email from the Building Committee I would like to outline the first few steps that Inshallah will result in a journey that ensures that the community thrives for the next 30 years plus.

I have started forming my team and am pleased to inform you that so far, the community can now come to count on Murtaza Master, Abaas Bhimji, Gulamabbas Peera, Sajjad Hassam, Kasim Sumar and Mehdiya Jaffer to work on it's behalf. As the Mehfil-e-Abbas project and the community's investment programme progresses, we will naturally need to add more members to the team. At the moment, we are looking for a volunteer to join the team and take on the role of Project Accountant. If you are interested, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We intend to work very closely with the Executive Committee of the Jamaat and the trustees as well as the community at large.

Given that the Community does not carry out construction work on a regular basis and the fact that the project is a very large undertaking, the process that is being followed is vital to the success of the project. As a committee, we have made a decision to adopt the recommendations of a review of the UK Construction Industry called ‘Accelerating Change’, which identified ‘Six Key Steps’ that anyone wishing to undertake a construction project should take to devise a procurement strategy. The six steps are outlined in the illustration below:

As you are aware, the committee has a deadline of end of September 2012 in order to have a referendum on whether to stay at the current site or move elsewhere. At the referendum, we want to provide you with the facts and figures so that you can make a more informed decision as to where the better future for the community lies. Therefore, in order to prepare for the referendum, steps 1 and 2 need to be followed and are outlined in a bit more detail below:

Once the above two steps have been completed then we will call a referendum in good time and allow the Community to vote on the options that are put forward. Thereafter, we will proceed to follow the other steps in this process.

At the same time as following the process above, we will also be following the steps outlined in the WF Capital Projects Paper, which are broadly similar to those outlined by Constructing Excellence.

Given that the Community does not carry out construction work on a regular basis and the fact that the project is a very large undertaking, the process that is being followed is vital to the success of the project. As a committee, we have made a decision to adopt the recommendations of a review of the UK Construction Industry called ‘Accelerating Change’, which identified six key steps that anyone wishing to undertake a construction project should take to devise a procurement strategy. 

A community member informed the committee that Calthorpe Estates had placed an advertising board outside the Pebble Mill Site. As you can see from the picture below, Plot 6, which is the 3.5 acre site would be of interest to the Community.

We approached the agents and they informed us that current planning consents for this site are for medical, office and retail use. The planners are keen for employment to be created in the area and therefore it is unlikely that planning permission could be obtained for non-employment uses. Finally, the asking price is £1.5 million per acre, which would make the total price £5.25 milion.

A community member informed the committee that Calthorpe Estates had placed an advertising board outside a site in Pebble Mill. As you can see from this picture, Plot 6, which is the 3.5 acre site would be of interest to the Community.

We approached the agents and they informed us that current planning consents for this site are for medical, office and retail use. The planners are keen for employment to be created in the area and therefore it is unlikely that planning permission could be obtained for non-employment uses. Finally, the asking price is £1.5 million per acre, which would make the total price £5.25 milion. Accordingly, this site has now been taken off our list of potential-sites; though this will be kept under review if the situation changes.