A Gwent Council could be referred to the ombudsman over its plan to award a lease to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association (MMCA), paving the way the county’s first mosque.

Those mounting the legal challenge have also described the process to award a 30-year-lease on the Carnegie Library Building in Abergavenny as “rigged,” claiming the process had been escalated behind closed doors.

Four tender applications for the building were received, including one from the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association (MMCA). Despite only offering £6,000 per year for the building, which has been valued by the Council’s own property experts at between £20-25,000, the council accepted their bid.

The MMCA did not achieve the highest score for financial sustainability out of the four. However, it still scored two points higher than the next best bid.

While the initial decision was called in by councillors for the Cabinet to reconsider, they stood by their original decision.

A Freedom of Information Request (FOI) to Monmouthshire Council to obtain the value of the other applications by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC) was refused initially based on grounds of commercial confidentiality.

Meanwhile, Cllr Simon Howarth, who is opposed to the plan, has called for greater transparency from the council and allowing the community to have its say.

“This is a matter of public trust. The legal findings show that the process was not just flawed, it was fundamentally compromised.”

“We are demanding that Monmouthshire County Council halt the lease, disclose all communications, and allow the community to have its say. Anything less would be a betrayal of local democracy.”

A second legal opinion was published earlier this month after the Christian Legal Centre, who is supporting the three councillors and local resident, John Hardwick, commissioned Paul Stafford, chancery counsel in Lincoln’s Inn.

Mr Stafford concluded any lease was likely to be void due to breaches of charity law and restrictive covenants, stating that a variation of a covenant from 1905, sought in 2022, was not legally binding. However, the legal papers required to prove this could be as far away as New York.

“This process has been rushed through behind closed doors, and the public has been kept in the dark,” said Cllr Buckler.

“The legal opinion confirms what many of us feared, that the outcome was predetermined. We are calling for the lease to be halted immediately and for Monmouthshire County Council to open the books. Residents deserve full transparency and a proper public consultation.”

In business plan documents seen by the Chronicle, the MMCA describes Council Leader, Mary Ann Brocklesby, saying that catering for the muslim population in the county was a priority commitment in 2023.

In 2024, the Council confirmed it was supporting the MMCA’s property search to the paper, saying, “The leader of the Council has offered support to the group to help find a dedicated space which the group could lease for a number of years.”

The Business Case also outlined proposals for the establishment of a mosque with a permanent Imam, a muslim community centre and a halal shop, alongside religious education and outreach programmes.