Bendigo anti-mosque protesters take battle to Victorian planning umpire VCAT
Updated
Opponents of a planned multi-million-dollar mosque in Bendigo have taken their objections to Victoria's planning umpire, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The Bendigo Council approved plans to build the mosque in the city's east earlier this year despite vocal opposition.
Protesters said the mosque would bring terrorism and violence to the town, and called on its development to be stopped.
Lawyer for the opponents Robert Balzola told a VCAT hearing the main objections were based on lighting, privacy, visual impact, traffic congestion and noise.
"We don't know when prayer times would start and finish," he said.
Residents also lodged concerns about the call for prayer causing noise and traffic congestion.
Another resident argued the mosque would cause an unacceptable disturbance to daily life.
But VCAT is considering the planning aspects of the case and whether the industrial land on Rowena Street would be suitable for the mosque.
The tribunal heard the mosque would be used for prayers five times a day, as well as community gatherings, marriage ceremonies and religious teachings.
The council's lawyer, Mimi Marcus, argued the proposal fitted within Bendigo's planning policies.
"As Bendigo's population grows, so too will people of Islamic faith," she said.
"It has one of the highest population growth rates of any regional Victorian area."
Ms Marcus told VCAT Bendigo East was the focus of industrial development in the future.
The town planner, Stuart McGurn, said the proposed site was an isolated pocket of industrial land.
"I accept some people don't want it (the mosque) for town planning reasons," he said
"I don't consider that to be sufficient or significant."
In a separate application being heard at the same time, the group funding the mosque, the Australian Islamic Mission, disputed the council's conditions on how many patrons would be permitted at the mosque at the one time, and the operating hours.
The hearing is scheduled to run until Wednesday.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, community-and-society, islam, urban-development-and-planning, bendigo-3550
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