A County Councillor has publicly weighed in on the unfolding situation to award a lease for Abergavenny’s Carnegie Library Building to a muslim association to be used as a mosque.

Conservative Councillor, Rachel Buckler, has described the process as “wholly unreasonable,” saying the process to grant the lease to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association was devoid of any consultation and scrutiny.

“It is wholly unreasonable to make a decision of this importance without any engagement or scrutiny,” said Cllr Buckler.

“We’ve spoken with residents and there are real worries about the suitability of this site. One even asked me, ‘Is it a joke? Do they know where the Library is?’”

Islamophobic graffiti was met with responses of those in favour of the plans at the proposed mosque and community centre last week, when lettering that read “no masjid” was covered up by a sheet reading “what unites us is big and beautiful.”

Cllr Buckler also laid into Labour cabinet member, Ben Callard, who has previously said that the building was “unattractive to businesses” due to the amount of work required to make the building usable.

“Councillor Ben Callard’s refusal to acknowledge that residents should have been consulted is extremely worrying,” she said.

“We must properly evaluate the local impact of placing a mosque in this setting. Councillor Callard claimed there was no duty to consult, relying solely on a scoring matrix. But the matrix is an aid, not the justification.”

The decision, made by the Cabinet without public involvement, sparked local concerns with three councillors calling in the decision to be discussed at a special meeting. As of Wednesday June 11th, the Cabinet was given 10 working days to reconsider its stance on the issue.

However, the grade II listed building was deemed surplus to requirements last November at a cabinet meeting and Cllr Callard said it was at this point the decision to award the lease was also taken to Cabinet. He said in the meeting that any councillors who disagreed with the decision should have called it in then, not eight months later.

The case put to Cllr Callard and the rest of the Cabinet, by Cllr Buckler, is that going ahead with the plans without any public consultation could provoke further division and uproar within the local community.

“People who’ve chosen to live here from different cultural backgrounds value how harmoniously we coexist. By imposing this decision without community input, the Council risks creating division where none existed,” she said.

“Residents feel intimidated and worried that raising legitimate concerns will lead to accusations of racism.”

Together with Conservative Cllr Louise Brown and Independent Cllr Simon Howarth, she questioned both the logic and fairness of the process.

“This is a quiet, residential area near vulnerable residents and a busy public house. That such a placement was considered appropriate - without informing residents - beggars belief.”

“No one was told. They simply read about it as a done deal in the Abergavenny Chronicle and on Facebook.”