ONE of Britain's oldest Muslim communities will converge on a 210-acre site near Alton this weekend (July 25-27) for the biggest annual convention of Muslims in the UK. An estimated 30,000 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will attend the 42nd Jalsa Salana which aims to showcase lessons in citizenship for 'model Muslims'. Delegates will start to arrive at the former Oaklands Farm site on Green Street (B3004) from this morning (Friday) and depart on Sunday evening. Drivers planning to use the B3004 Alton to Kingsley road and the adjoining A325 and A31 over the weekend period are advised to avoid Jalsa Salana rush hours. Today (Friday) the busy periods will be from 9am to 2pm and from 6 to 10 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday the peak periods are 8am to 1pm and 6 to 10pm. While a robust travel plan has been drawn up with the help of the police and Hampshire County Council, to avoid a repetition of last year's gridlock, convention organisers are conscious of the need to restore public confidence in their ability to get it right. Direction signs are in place and all delegates will have received colour coded passes, telling them where to park and how to get there. The main thrust of the plan has been to reduce the number of cars going to the Worldham site from the 7,000 in 2006 and 2007 to a maximum of 3,000. The aim is to encourage delegates to use park and ride at the Islamabad site at Tilford, with the Montgomery Barracks at Aldershot on standby to act as a back-up if wet weather forces vehicles off the Worldham site. Delegates are also encouraged to car share and to use the train. South West Trains will be running a special half hourly service starting at 8am from London Waterloo and stopping at numerous stations along the way. The service will run until midnight each day and is expected to transport in the region of 4,000 convention goers who will be bused to and from the Worldham site from Alton station. Coaches and buses will access Oaklands Farm from the A31, via Mill Lane and through East Worldham. There will be 50 buses coming down from London, with five buses running a half-hourly shuttle service to and from Alton station, and 33 buses making the round trip to and from Tilford – accessing the site via Alton and leaving via Kingsley. A further 30 buses will be brought into service if weather conditions force the use of the Aldershot park-and-ride. All cars, other than those coming in from the south, will be directed to enter the site via the A325 through Kingsley. For more information about the East Worldham convention visit the website at http://www.jalsasalana.org">www.jalsasalana.org
