Court of Appeal rejects plea to prevent plans for proposed Bendigo mosque

Two Bendigo residents sought an injunction at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday to stop the Australian Islamic Mission from building the first mosque in the locality. The bid was, however, rejected by two judges.

Chief Justice Marilyn Warren and Justice Joseph Santamaria heard that the original number of residents appealing against the construction of the mosque was 18. The number then went down to only two, Julie Hoskin and another resident.

Lawyers for the anti-mosque group asked the court to prevent the project from proceeding further until a full hearing was held on Nov. 6. However, Chief Justice Warren called the appeal documents “embarrassing” and “puzzling”.

“(Court of Appeal) Justice (Joseph­) Santamaria and I are not raising mere matters of form,” The Australian quoted Chief Justice Warren as telling Hoskin’s counsel Marcel White. “It is not possible for us to comprehend the grounds on which the matter has been taken forward.”

A planning permit for the proposed mosque in Bendigo was approved in June 2014 by Bendigo City Council. It was later upheld in August by Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal president Justice Greg Garde and senior member Margaret Baird, who rejected the claim that building the mosque would be detrimental to Bendigo.

"There is no evidence of abuse, harassment, intimidation, or loss of wellbeing or social cohesion associated with the operation of the existing places of Islamic worship in Bendigo, or in any other location in Victoria or beyond," The Age quoted the VCAT judgment.

A Facebook page called “Stop the Mosque in Bendigo”, which has more than 17,000 likes and says “Keep calm there will be no mosque in Bendigo,” has asked its followers for donations to raise funds for the legal process.

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