A Melbourne Council Has Rejected Plans for a Community Mosque

Following pressure from right wing groups like Rise Up Australia, a special council meeting of Melbourne's City of Casey last night rejected a proposal for a large mosque development in the suburb of Narre Warren North.

Plans for the Narre Warren mosque were put forward by the Saarban Islamic Trust, a division of the Islamic Forum for Australian Muslims. Speaking to VICE yesterday afternoon before the council meeting, Saarban Islamic Trust media representative Dr Muhammad Iqbal said that he expected the council to announce its rejection of the mosque building proposal, although "they're biased, and they have no grounds to do so."

He said that he was initially surprised the plans were met with opposition from members of the City of Casey council, given that "our architect met with them beforehand and took into account everything they suggested, going completely by the book."

A report issued by the council outlines issues with "the appropriateness of the scale and intensity of the proposed use and development on the amenity of the surrounding area" as well as "impact of the proposed use and development on traffic flows and road safety" and "conservation of the landscape and scenic qualities of the foothills area."

When VICE contacted Narre Warren councillor Rosalie Crestani, who is also the deputy leader of right wing action group Rise Up Australia, she made clear that these were not the only issues the council had with the mosque development proposal.

"The community are very concerned about this proposal and have voiced various concerns to me about its impact on neighbourhood, not only in terms of traffic and parking but also social and cultural factors," she said.

"There are also the issues of potential terrorist links. The community have conveyed to me that this might be a hub for that kind of activity. Considering the terror plot that occurred on ANZAC Day when a teenage boy was apprehended for planning an attack, it's natural for the community to be concerned."

She added that although she was active within the Rise Up Australia movement, which has run an online campaign against the mosque proposal, "my affiliations outside of council don't preclude me from speaking on these issues."

The City of Casey council is led by Mayor Sam Azis, who came under fire in 2014 for a controversial Facebook post where he told Muslim leaders who feel "alienated in Australia" to "go home".

Kieran Bennett, who attended the council meeting last night to campaign for the mosque, told VICE that although he had anticipated the proposal being rejected, "the mayor's speech justifying was unexpectedly awful. I'm not sure what the Anzacs have to do with a place of worship in Narre Warren in 2016, but he went there. He might as well have been blowing in a literal dog whistle."

James Randall, a local muslim activist who started the Casey Against Racism Facebook page that has opposed anti-mosque campaigns by the United Patriots Front and Rise Up Australia, told VICE that the council's rejection of the plans was "a foregone conclusion."

This was unfortunate, he said, given the strong muslim presence in the Narre Warren area. "As of the 2011 census, there are 13 900 muslims living in the City of Casey - about 5 percent of the area's total population," he added. "That includes at least 800 people of Indian and Pakistani background, who are the people the mosque is hoping to cater for. That's from the census five years back, and the population has definitely grown since then."

Randall said the Saarban Islamic Trust will probably resubmit its plans with modifications. These will probably include a reduction of the proposed 25 metre height of the mosque's minaret.

"Muslims are ready to come to the table and compromise on this issue. It's about time locals and the council did the same," he said.

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