RESIDENTS are preparing for a ticket-only meeting in which protests are expected to be aired over proposals to build a mosque on the grounds of one of Scotland's best-performing comprehensive schools.
Places at a public meeting on Monday over the plans for Eastwood High School are being restricted because of expected demand. Organisers have invited people who want to attend to email for a ticket, with numbers restricted to 300.
It is understood members of one mosque have already applied for 400 tickets and were refused as they "applied as a group".
The meeting comes after East Renfrewshire Council launched a consultation on proposed changes to its Local Development Plan, including moving a new religious building from an original site at Maidenhill to what parents say is the site for a second playing field on the grounds of Eastwood High.
Parent council members have objected, stating the site was promised to Eastwood High, and that a religious facility should not be built on non-denominational school grounds.
The group has sent out letters urging parents to take part in the consultation, and organised a petition for Holyrood.
The proposals for the mosque have been put forward by the Muslim community as there is no place of worship for Muslims in Newton Mearns, despite demand for more than a decade.
Details put forward by Nazir Ahmed, a trustee of the East Renfrewshire Mosque and Community Centre group, point out the East Renfrewshire Muslim community has been resident for more than 40 years and is "one of the fastest growing communities that actively contributes to the vibrant and ethnically authentic nature" of the area.
His submission adds: "A centrally-located and dedicated East Renfrewshire mosque, which will also serve multiple roles and functions as a community hub, is vital for East Renfrewshire and should be identified in the local plan."
One of the protesting parents, Joanne Murphy, said: "Our local development plan offered three alternative sites to the Muslim community in East Renfrewshire to build a mosque, however a local Muslim group who is agreeable to accept one of the sites has requested an amendment to the local plan requesting a mosque, community centre, a halal butchers and soup kitchen is built on the school grounds, where the children's outdoor learning space had been planned and agreed, as their preferred choice.
"Some of the East Renfrewshire councillors and our own community council were taken aback by this proposal. You can imagine the parents and community have a number of concerns."
A petition has been set up online and now has more than 1000 signatures. It will be sent to First Minister Alex Salmond.
Stewart Maxwell MSP has previously said there is "no need to change the local plan" while Eastwood MSP Ken Macintosh has expressed support for the proposal.
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