Hundreds of people swamped Tavistock Street in South Hurstville on Monday armed with ‘no’ flyers to show their opposition against a proposed mosque.
The huge crowd, many armed with large placards, went to the site at 849 King Georges Road as part of an onsite hearing of the Land and Environment Court.
It is part of a three-day hearing before Commissioner Jenny Smithson.
A development application for the mosque was submitted last year and includes three levels of basement parking for 31 cars, and a two- to three-storey building with a traditional dome occupying the third level.
The ground floor would contain a men’s prayer area while the women’s area would be on the second floor where there would also be a kitchen and classrooms.
That has concerned residents who say the mosque would increase traffic problems, be visually intrusive and the operating hours would be disruptive and not suitable for a quiet residential area.
Despite security being on hand, people were well behaved as they listened to five speakers speak against the proposal.
One resident, who didn’t want to be named, spoke at the hearing and said the opposition had nothing to do with religion.
‘’Although I respect the right to freedom of religion or belief, this does not extend to establishing a place of worship in an inappropriate location,’’ he said.
‘’Residents have also had to contend with being accused of intolerance and racism by social media sites supporting the DA. This accusation is not true and is aimed at detracting from amenity rights of residents.’’
A second resident who lives next door to the site said the proposal was appalling.
He raised concerns about the level of noise and the increasing traffic.
‘’It is already a narrow corner and I’ve noticed a number of accidents already,’’ he said.
‘’This will only exacerbate the problem.’’
Brett Daintry, speaking on behalf of the South Hurstville Residents Association and the South Hurstville Action Group said the quality of the submissions against the proposal showed the residents had done their homework.
‘’Good planning is not about the amount of submissions and objections,’’ he said.
‘’It’s about the quality and rigor of those submissions. I think the two groups have produced very rigorous submissions.
‘’The bottom line is that it’s the wrong location. They just didn’t select the right site.’’
A representative for the applicant did not speak at the hearing.
The two groups had also been pushing for an updated plan of management to be released publicly.
At the closing of Monday’s hearing it was announced that plan would be given to residents and Georges River Council later that day.
Mr Daintry said he was disappointed it had taken that long.
‘’I am disappointed with the behaviour of the applicant,’’ he said.
‘’The plan of management should have been lodged with the development application.
‘’It’s very unfair that the residents and council only have 24 hours to respond.’’
The rest of the hearing will be heard at the Land and Environment Court in Sydney.
