By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A proposed mosque in industrial Doveton has been given the green light for the second time by City of Casey.
The Afghan Islamic Centre and Omar Farooq Mosque’s re-application at 25-31 Green Street was approved at a council meeting on 16 July, after the original permit lapsed in 2018.
Cr Wayne Smith said that the mosque was in an appropriate site and “met all of the requirements”.
The sequel attracted significantly less objections than the original controversial permit in 2014, Cr Smith told the meeting.
The council received three objections – two from neighbours in the industrial estate. There were no objections from nearby residents.
Cr Smith said that none of the residents that objected in 2014 had even contacted him this time round.
“Whether or not they thought there was no point (in objecting), who knows?”
In its second version, a larger mosque with a larger 216-space onsite car park was proposed on a larger site of four lots.
The 2200-square-metre building will stand 10 metres tall with 14-metre-high minaret towers.
It will attract up to 300 for Friday prayers, about 250 for condolence services on weekends, up to 400 during the month of Ramadan and 600 for two Eid prayers a year.
On most days, it will be visited by up to 100.
The mosque had outgrown its current hall at Photinia Street, with a capacity for up to 160 visitors.
It will utilise extra adjoining land at Green Street, sold by one of the mosque’s main original opponents Catch The Fire Ministries – which had been set to build a church next door.
Cr Rosalie Crestani, who opposed the original and latest proposals, said she remained “very much concerned”.
She noted the addition of a morgue “just a very small stone’s throw” from adjoining resident’s back fenceline.
Its heavily-attended Friday prayer service would lead to industrial neighbours being “locked down from conducting their business”, she said.
“I think this would be a poor development for the area.”
