Outer Hebrides to get its first mosque after council approval

The Outer Hebrides is to get its first mosque after councillors unanimously backed the plans.
The council have given its approval for a mosque in Stornoway. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesThe council have given its approval for a mosque in Stornoway. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The council have given its approval for a mosque in Stornoway. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Proposals to redevelop a semi-derelict store building in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis have been approved by the islands’ local authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

Consent had previously been given for a “community centre” to be used for religious practice in the James Street building.

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But a new application for planning permission was submitted in June this year, expressly calling it a mosque.

Local authority officers recommended the plans should be approved in a report which went before members ahead of the vote on Thursday.

The Western Isles, which last year welcomed six Syrian refugee families, has a small Muslim community.