Muslims have applied to build a large mosque in a fast-growing suburb on the edge of Sydney as part of a new $12.3 million community centre.
The proposed development for the suburb of Austral was lodged with Liverpool Council earlier this month and contains plans for the box-style mosque and community centre, a childcare centre, learning centre and youth centre.
The 5000sqm lot will also contain a car park, office space, a canteen and storage space, and there are plans for a children’s play area, and an outdoor dining and picnic zone.
At the time of the 2021 Census, Austral was home to fewer than 7,000 people, was 14.7% Islamic, 66.2% of the population spoke a foreign language at home, and 50.3% were born in Australia, but has since grown to just over 10,000 residents.
Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun said the population was set to explode and hit 90,000, while planning documents for the mosque predicted 55,000 with a high proportion of Muslims.
“Currently, Austral is a semi-rural area which is transitioning into a suburban area. The current population of 10,539 is expected to increase to 55,240 over the coming decades,” the documents state.
“[The number of Muslims] reflects Liverpool’s overall status as home to diverse communities and a high Islamic population compared with western Sydney overall, and this trend is likely to remain based on comparison with similar suburbs.
“Growth patterns of single-family homes are primarily targeted towards family households with children, and specialist schools in the area indicate a demand for religious education facilities in Austral.”
The planning documents also refer to the council’s policies on “inclusive social infrastructure”, “diversity” and “social justice principles”.
Mr Mannoun was unable to comment on the development as he is on the planning panel, but told the Liverpool Leader more places of worship would be needed to meet the suburb’s growth.
“There’s going to be (almost) 100,000 people calling Austral home so it’s not a tiny suburb. I think Austral itself is a third the size of Canberra,” he said.
But some locals expressed their opposition to the proposal on social media, saying traffic was already bad in the area, and that with the suburb lacking infrastructure any new childcare centres should serve the whole community and not just one religious group.
The planning application comes after a proposal to blast a prayer call by loudspeaker from Sydney’s largest mosque in Lakemba was rejected by Canterbury-Bankstown Council following an avalanche of opposing submissions.
Header image: An image of the planned mosque from the planning documents (Liverpool Council).
