Buddhists stand their ground

A GROUP of Buddhists has denied claims by angry neighbours who say it is operating illegally and creating dangerous traffic conditions.
The Meditation Executive Committee for the Mahamevnawa, an organisation of Buddhist monasteries, says a meditation center in Narre Warren North has been operating peacefully and no work has been done without the council’s approval.
Their comments come after Narre Warren North resident said last week that they were angry that the centre was operating and carrying out upgrades despite council knocking back a planning application last year. Council said the alleged use of the site was currently under investigation by council’s planning department.
The application to the council last year states that the centre will not be a religious one, and will be open to the entire community .
Council refused the permit as it did not comply with its local planning policies, it would unduly affect the amenity of the surrounding residential properties and the proposed use and development would be uncharacteristic in its low density context.
One nearby resident, Kathryn Caldwell, said the centre had cars entering the premises at all times of the day, seven days a week and the driveway to the premises had been widened to resemble a road.
Shiroman Wickramasuriya, president of the committee, said the committee had hoped to expand the Buddhist Meditation Center to allow for several community activities, but cancelled all planning when the council refused the permit. Community activities are now held at several other places throughout Victoria, he said.
The centre is now only being used as a monks’ residence and offers meditation, one-on-one counselling, one-on-one advisory exchanges and food offerings.
The committee also said council officers inspected and approved a driveway expansion at the centre.
Mr Wickramasuriya said the earliest people arrived at the residence would be about 6am for the offering of breakfast, and the latest would be at 10pm. There are no televisions, radio or music in the centre and Mr Wickramasuriya said there would be a maximum of about 10 people who attended at any one time during the week and they had never exceeded the permit of 50 people on the weekend. There was also no alcohol or smoking allowed on the premises.
One member of the committee said they were a peaceful organisation which did not want any dispute with neighbours.
“Our objective is to have a peaceful surrounding and to have many law-abiding citizens in this country,” one member said.
“Silence is the golden word.”
Members of the committee said there would have been more traffic attending the property when the site was a courier service before it became a monks’ residence. They also said an increase of traffic in the area could be related to the amount of people who use Lysterfield Lake in the summertime and the booming population in the surrounding area.
The committee said they did two letter drops last year to invite neighbouring residents and councillors to address any concerns they had, but only had two responses.
Mr Wickramasuriya said they would still invite anyone who had concerns to call the centre on 9700 6870 and make an appointment to speak with the committee.