An application to use a residence on Ferro Street in Lithgow as a place of public worship has been withdrawn.
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Lithgow Mayor Stephen Lesslie confirmed the development application was withdrawn by Annie Burbank at midday on Thursday, June 1.
Mayor Lesslie said the application, which included a request to use the residence as temporary accommodation as well as a place of worship, suffered from a number of planning challenges.
Ferro Street application planning challenges:
- Fire safety
- Availability of parking
- Disabled access
- Building proximity to neighboring properties
“It was pretty obvious that they would have trouble getting the development application through the council on planning grounds,” he said.
“The mix of public and residential use of the building created problems for the DA such as meeting fire safety requirements, poor disabled access and parking issues.”
"It would have been a lot of work to overcome."
- - Group manager Andrew Muir
Group manager of environment and development at the council, Andrew Muir, said Ms Burbank did not give any reasons to staff as to why she was withdrawing the application.
“There were a number of issues to get it over the line and we can only assume that would have led to her decision,” Mr Muir said.
“It would have been a lot of work to overcome.”
He said council staff had not produced a recommendation report on the application yet, but had been in contact with the applicant about planning concerns.
The house at 53 Ferro Street is listed online as a place for muslims to pray in congregation as ‘Al hadid Masjid’ (mosque) and ‘Al Hadid Musallah’ (prayer room).
A local man who said he supported the application, and who requested not to be named in case of discrimination, said the residency would provide a place of prayer in congregation for a very small Islamic community in Lithgow.
“It would just be for a small community of three to four people, the plan is to use it for Friday prayers, rather than going to the Bathurst mosque,” he said.
News of the application in early May sparked disagreement in Lithgow, with two groups forming on Facebook with opposite views on the application’s progress.
The anti-Islamic ‘Stop the mosque’ group opposed the new use of the house and ‘Stop the hate’ formed as an anti-racist counter group to, “keep Lithgow caring”.
If the application was not withdrawn, it’s fate would have been decided by Lithgow councillors, after it was ‘called in’ to the council during Monday’s meeting.
More to come.
