The planners have turned down my planning application for a pop-up mosque. It was a 'bouncy mega-mosque' and looked bloody great on paper. A gigantic, though modest, inflatable structure with a helium-stiffened minaret. Capable of holding 70,000 worshippers either on land (urban version) or afloat in the middle of the Thames Estuary (Olympic Legacy version). Despite this inbuilt flexibility - I sought planning permission to inflate the mosque anywhere in London it could fit, thereby saving on paperwork - it has been refused because it is too big and 'contentious'. I'm not sure what this means. 'Likely to be opposed by people who don't like giant inflatable mosques'? It's absurd. I'll make it smaller and less contentious. Back to the pop-up drawing board.
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