\n The Environment Agency (EA) has objected to the Norwich Muslim Centre\u2019s plans to transform the Gatehouse on Dereham Road which backs onto the River Wensum.\n<\/p>\n
\n The EA say the extension to the pub building, which would form a new prayer hall, would be built in a floodplain, potentially reducing the amount of land available to store floodwater.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Norwich Muslim Centre has submitted plans to transform the Gatehouse pub on Dereham Road into a place of worship. (Image: Gatehouse Community Hub)\n<\/p>\n
\n It says the scheme fails to demonstrate there would not be increased flood risk in the area.\n<\/p>\n
\n The authority warns this could increase the risk of flooding elsewhere and recommended the application is refused by Norwich City Council unless the concerns are addressed.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, it added the objection could be overcome if revised proposals or flood-compensation measures are submitted to show there would be no loss of flood-storage capacity.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Norwich Muslim Centre submitted plans to transform the Gatehouse pub on Dereham Road into a place of worship earlier this year.\n<\/p>\n
\n The plans have been met with hundreds of objections from those who believe the Gatehouse should remain a pub.\n<\/p>\n
\n The pub was built in the 1930s and is almost an exact copy of the Artichoke in Magdalen Road (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokesman for the Norwich Muslim Centre said the site is intended for use by the wider community and not as an exclusive mosque.\n<\/p>\n
\n A mission statement submitted with the plans says: \u201cOur dream is to create a community hub that not only provides a space for worship but also empowers the next generation with strong Islamic identity, promotes interfaith engagement and tackles misconceptions about Muslims.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Council officials have also objected to the plans over concerns the scheme would cause “unacceptable harm” to the building.\n<\/p>\n
\n Others have commented in support of the new proposals, saying the new use will provide more opportunity for the community.\n<\/p>\n
\n Norwich City Council is yet to make a decision on whether to grant the permission for the plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Environment Agency (EA) has objected to the Norwich Muslim Centre\u2019s plans to transform the Gatehouse on Dereham…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-783524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}