The Masjid / Mosque has not been approved. YET!
We are now well over one year since representatives of the Hills District Muslim Society acquired 1 Larapinta Place, Glenhaven. To this day, on not one occasion, has anyone for or on behalf of the applicant, approached anyone in the Glenhaven community to discuss their proposal. HDMS rejected an offer of a conciliation meeting with residents via Hills Shire Council. All we are met with at 1 Larapinta Place is chained and padlocked gates! And remember, we surveyed over 300 households in and around 1 Larapinta Place, Glenhaven, over 1,200 people, not one will be using any of the services proposed by HDMS.
In early June 2018, the applicant submitted eight new or updated documents which included three new reports being arborist, lighting and survey plan with five amendments to existing reports storm water, landscape, main plans, plan of management and environmental effects. The new documents make the application appear more compliant, but in our view little has changed. We urge you all to have a look at the documents online.
We believe that the applicant is working us all to a Land & Environment Court hearing.
The benefits to the applicant are numerous, but most importantly comes with a hope that the community will give up, the council will give up or they use the Court to close off most of the ‘objections’ to the project.
So what we see today in the application, we believe, will not be the same produced at the Land & Environment Court. That means that their first DA was to flush out what the community thought. The HDMS achieved their goal.
But we will not give up!
We also call on members of the HDMS to hold their Executive to account.
This whole process has been flawed from the start and there is nothing that anyone can do to make it better. The site and the location is simply ‘not fit for purpose’. The Executive of the HDMS appears to have seen an opportunity where zoning appeared to suit the broader ‘house of worship’ definition and grabbed it. Why, because the grander plan of a 24 x 7 commercial operation with a starting price of only $3.8 million for the land seemed too good a deal.First mistake!
Where was the due diligence? If the Executive of the HDMS had taken an objective view of the site, they simply would have rejected it as ‘not fit for purpose’, especially given their grand plans for expansion and growth as outlined in their own promotional video.
It is not an attractive block for development, there is no sewerage,at least half of the block slopes away into a gully into Dooral Dooral Creek and it fronts onto one of the busiest roads in the Hills, Glenhaven Road. Given the development west of Glenhaven, this road will only get busier. If and that is a massive IF, this development went ahead, we doubt that people who want to go to the site, will actually go. It will be far too difficult to access especially during peak times and far too dangerous.
Yet, the Executive of HDMS has raised through donations some $4 million, some local money, some from the middle east and some from other parts of the world.
Is the Executive caught between a ‘rock and a hard place’? Have they and are they acting in the best interests of the persons who donated money? Did they disclose the obvious issues relating to the site during the period that they raised the money? Do they feel that they will satisfy their fiduciary duty by running this process to the bitter end, irrespective of how much of the donated monies they will spend?
When the HDMS rolls out expert reports that say the following in relation to traffic, everyone including the members of the HDMS must realise that there are significant issues not being presented in an open and frank manner.
We quote:-
‘No safety or traffic implications are expected given the density and residential use and vehicular access’ with ‘safe and efficient access will be from an established road system’.
Add encouraging attendees to use the ‘quality public transport system” (are they serious), the application has massive issues and the community the overwhelming number (greater than 97%) who will not use the facility, have massive issues.
The Executive of HDMS should make a decision now to terminate this fiasco, stop wasting the money of others and seek assistance and guidance from organisations such as Hills Shire Council as to an alternative more suitable location.
We ask you to google Baitul Huda Mosque at Marsden Park and Hillsong Church at Baulkham Hills. Both sites are in a commercial/industrial area. Both sites have multiple and safe points of access and egress to and from the site. This is what this applicant wants to create but they will NEVER have the access and egress potential of Baitul Huda or Hillsong.
That is unless they change Glenhaven forever.
If you have any doubts about the objectives of HDMS, go back to their promotional video that appears on Friends of Glenhaven website, when they were raising funds to acquire 1 Larapinta Place. It will be clear that we are not exaggerating the position.
What can you do now?
It is now time for Council Officers to represent the interests of the community and assess this application on planning grounds which includes the local amenity.
If you have lodged your objection to council, there is no need at this point to lodge a further objection. If you haven’t lodged an objection, there is still time but not a great deal.
We need you to write to our councillors and the General Manager of Hills Shire Council NOW and seek an undertaking from them that they will continue to represent the RESIDENTS of Glenhaven in this matter, in whatever jurisdiction, to the end.
We may need you to submit another objection at a future time. We will advise if this is required. There may be a time when we require you to attend external meetings in relation to this Application. We will advise accordingly.
Most importantly, we need your continued support and involvement. It is so important that we all stay focused and constantly remind ourselves that we are in for the long haul. We need to remind ourselves that we also have rights, rights to express ourselves and to stand up to issues such as this application, which is so far out of kilter with the area and the road systems, that it would be laughable if not such a serious issue.
How can you help??
We ask you to email ALL of the councillors and members listed below. Voice your concerns, in your words to council on this proposed development and how it will affect you.
We would strongly suggest using the information that we have provided as a foundation and expressing your concerns in your own words as to what this could mean to you and your family.
We do ask that you send a copy to friendsofglenhaven@gmail.com for our records.
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