Locals in 'London's last town' feel ignored over massive Islamic centre development concerns - and warn 'dramatic shift in character being imposed on area'

In October 2022, the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Community of London (KSIMC), often known as Hujjat Stanmore, completed the £33million purchase of a 6.3-acre office campus at Widewater Place, just a short drive from Harefield’s picturesque green.

Announcing the new site as the future home of “Hujjat Harefield”, the acquisition of the three large buildings and the surrounding complex was hailed as the establishment of a new central hub for their community.

The KSIMC, first established in 1983, represents members of the Khoja Twelver community, who follow one of the largest branches of Shia Islam and have their roots in Indian Hindu converts.

They operate Mosques, community centres and welfare services through a trustee-led charity structure.

Sharing information with residents, the KSIMC outlined plans to turn Widewater Place into “a multi-purpose space for general community use, with occasional religious use.”

However, Hillingdon Conservatives have described the development as a “large, 24-hour multi-use complex including religious, social and event facilities, designed for an external community, not Harefield residents”.

While the KSIMC stressed that the project is “for everyone in Harefield”, locals remain alarmed by the speed, ambiguity, and potential consequences of the major development.

Adding to their distress, the residents feel they have been denied a say in developments that may forever change Harefield.

According to the locals, the KSIMC once boasted that the Hujjat Harefield site at Widewater Place would regularly attract between 6,000 and 10,000 community members.

However, these estimates appear to have been scrubbed from newer materials.

“It’d be a dramatic shift in character for a village like ours. It is an enormous imposition, and we simply won't accept it,” Gerard Barry, one of the leading voices in opposing the development, told GB News.

Harefield is known by many of its residents as the “last town in London”, just north of Ruislip, as the only place left in the capital surrounded by farms and fields.

It is a slice of old England nestled in the western fringe of the nation’s metropole and bears its status with pride, with St George’s Crosses and Union Flags hanging from almost every lamppost.

Harefield is a town of some 7,000 people with a storied history, home to hard workers and historic Anzac war heroes who are still honoured today.

As such, the significance of the Hujjat Harefield development has animated the townspeople. A local petition opposing the move has gathered nearly 4,000 signatures.

At a gathering of locals in the town attended by GB News, Harefield residents spoke of their concerns and feelings of abandonment by local authorities.

"They talk a lot about community, but it's an imposition of a community within a community. There's no cohesive element to it,” Mr Barry said of the plans for Widewater Place.

“There are other concerns, such as the traffic and the number of vehicles. It’s 6,000 to 10,000 people coming regularly to the site,” he stressed.

Derek Kent, a representative from the Harefield Residents Association, explained: “This has been going on for three or four years.

“It's affecting people in the village who are concerned about their future. Planning applications have gone down. People are investing less in their houses because they are unsure.

“For four years, we've had this hanging over us. With the council not interested, not getting involved and pushing the residents association aside."

Kathy Rumsby, who moved to Harefield with her husband five years ago, told GB News: “We just hate to see it changed. Really, we would hate to see it change. And we haven't got the infrastructure, we’re going to have all these cars going through.”

Tim Wheeler, a local businessman who is standing as a Reform councillor in May, told the People's Channel: “We don't want to change.”

Relaying fears in the town over the Widewater site, he suggested: “Naturally, people want to migrate to live near their place of worship or centre of focus. But we're not talking about a community of 500 here; we're talking about at least 6,000 on a busy day.

“And what will that do? It will start to change the look, the feel, the ambience and tradition of Harefield beyond recognition, very, very quickly."

Despairing that the community had been robbed of a “voice”, Mr Wheeler explained: “The feeling in Harefield reflects the feeling in the UK that we're changing at a pace and in a direction that nobody likes. It's the will of the majority that we don't want it.

Yvonne Miles, a septuagenarian who has lived in Harefield for decades, agreed. She declared that the “council doesn’t want to know” regarding their complaints about the KSIMC’s plans.

Hillingdon’s Conservatives are also among those opposing the Hujjat development, separate from the independent campaigns of Harefield First and the Residents Association.

Tommy Balaam, Conservative spokesman in Harefield Village, told GB News: “As a local dad bringing up my children in Harefield, I care deeply about the future of our village.

"Harefield is a unique place, with a character and sense of community that simply wouldn’t be reflected by a 24-hour, high-intensity development like this.

“These plans don’t meet the needs of local people and feel aimed at a narrow group rather than the village as a whole.

“This is not about dividing people, it’s about protecting the unique fabric of Harefield and making sure any development genuinely fits our community."

For their part, Hillingdon council stressed that they maintain a “legal duty to scrutinise and make decisions on planning applications for proposed developments.

"However, it can only do this once an application has been submitted, and, at this time, no application has been received for this site”.

"Once received, this will be carefully considered in line with planning policy, and residents will have the opportunity to give their feedback. A consultation currently underway is a pre-application process being run by the landowner," they told the People's Channel.

The KSMIC have also said they are currently in the process of putting their redevelopment plans for Widewater Place to the local council for approval.

In promoting the project, the KSMIC have claimed multiple times that cooperation with the local community remains a key part of their agenda.

“Interfaith work is also high on our list of priorities. We regularly seek to engage with our neighbours from other faith traditions,” the charity proclaims on its website.

Flyers were distributed to residents in the town, stressing multiple times that the development is for all in Harefield.

The campaign also invited locals to participate in consultations and online seminars on the development.

“Rooted in a proud tradition of service and community investment, we want local people to help shape the future of this exciting project,” they stated on the Widewater website.

“Community engagement is at the heart of our proposals. We want to ensure that the proposals understand the local character of Harefield and can best serve its needs,” they said, adding that their project will add £2.8million to the local economy.

Most recently, the KSIMC has lodged a planning permission request with the council to erect a “two-metre-high mesh security fence” around the perimeter of Widewater Place for “security reasons”.

In their plans, the organisation argued that the proposed barrier is in keeping with other fences in the area.

However, locals point to it as an example of a divide already being set down between the development and the Harefield community.

The proposals have been deemed “lawful” by the authority, and now planning permission will be sought.

When speaking about the fence application, Hillingdon Council said: “This is a decision made on basic criteria – whether the application is permitted or not – and not based on any assessment of planning merits.”

The KSIMC and Widewater Place declined to comment when approached multiple times by GB News.

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