By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
RESIDENTS worried for their safety as a result of traffic chaos at the front of a Narre Warren North mosque have taken their case to the council.
The City of Casey will investigate concerns that guests attending a mosque used by the Islamic Education and Welfare Association of Dandenong (IEWAD) on Belgrave-Hallam Road have been parking and driving illegally near the place of worship, after anxious residents presented the council with a 25-signature petition regarding the issue.
Daniel (not his real name), a resident who helped organise the petition, said people who used the mosque regularly parked in no standing zones and on the nature strip which has resulted in several car accident near-misses.
He said the parking mayhem occurred mostly on Fridays when a weekly service is held and the amount of visitors to the mosque exceeded its car parking capacity.
“The other issue is that because they are doing that, vehicles coming out of the premises can’t see the traffic and there have been that many near misses it’s not funny,” he said.
“When they were parking along there they also turn over double white lines.”
Casey councillor Rafal Kaplon, who presented the petition to the council earlier this month, said the issue had been ongoing and first came to his attention early last year.
“People are disregarding the laws and setting dangerous precedents,” he said.
“Vehicles exiting the premises are doing so in what has resulted in serious near-misses.”
IEWAD did not respond to questions from the News before deadline.
