From the Daily Tele:

No Muslim school for us
By Michelle Cazzulino
December 21, 2007

UNTROUBLED by traffic lights or long lines of cars, the grey expanse of Argyle St stretches through the heart of Camden, rolling lazily over gentle slopes and bordered on either side by specialty shops bearing sign names lettered in olde English.

It is here that long-time locals tend to congregate, gathering for a pint at the Argyle Inn, or meeting for lunch further up the road at Seagulls on Argyle, where the specialty is billed as “fresh-cooked chooks” but patrons say the fish and chips are every bit as good.

Take a seat at one of the outdoor tables and the conversation seems to eddy around you - the usual observations about school holidays mostly, mixed with last-minute panic about Christmas shopping.

In recent times though, another topic has come to dominate, although it is broached with caution and discussed more quietly.

“About this Islamic school,” one diner begins, “I just don’t think they should build it here. It’s just not right,” she says through pursed lips.

Her order comes and the subject changes abruptly, but it is not difficult to surmise that the institution in question is the one proposed for a 15ha property in the neighbouring suburb of Cawdor.

The school, which would host some 1200 Muslim students, would comprise “a new primary school, high school, multi-purpose hall, playing fields, carparking, roadworks and associated civil works and landscaping”, according to a development application submitted to council.

Unsurprisingly, the proposal has raised a number of eyebrows in the predominantly Anglo-Saxon township in Sydney’s south-west.

Many have already made their concerns known. According to mayor Chris Patterson 3500 submissions about the school have already been lodged with council. Of them, he says at least 2700 residents have included their full address details and while the count is still ongoing, just 13 have been in support of the school.

For Quranic Society spokesman Jeremy Bingham, the fact that many residents don’t want the school built in the region is not a matter of particular concern.

Neither is the fact that a heated public meeting, held on Wednesday night to oppose the development, had to be closed after close to 800 people flooded Camden Civic Centre. The doors were shut when the auditorium reached its 670-person capacity.

Mr Bingham says the council is legally obliged to judge the application against planning considerations only. The fact that the residents are unhappy about it is immaterial.

“If the council should knock back the development application, the (Quranic) Society will appeal the decision and we’re confident the Land and Environment Court will approve it.”

But back in Argyle St, locals argue there are planning issues to consider. Aware of being labelled “anti-Muslim”, many preface their sentiments with “I’m not a racist but. . .” and bristle at the thought that they might be perceived as such.

Others are more circumspect.

“Anyone who knows this town knows there are not a lot of Muslims here, so they’d really be building it for children who would be brought here from other areas,” resident and mother Peta Burley said.

“I’m both ways about it - I’m not against it but I’m not for it either. The traffic is what I’m most concerned about, with the extra cars it’s going to bring into the area.”

Local Damien Kelly said the school would change the face of Camden. “I’m not racist, but they’ll end up putting traffic lights in and there’ll be people everywhere,” he said.

Emil Sremchevich from Camden Macarthur Residents’ Group was not among those who organised Wednesday night’s protest but yesterday he said he supported their arguments.

“There’s been no debate, no discussion about this school,” he said, before claiming the meeting had been orchestrated to “promote Christian values”.

“You’ve got to understand, our democratic rights have been denied,” he said.

But Mr Bingham, whose group was not invited to participate in the forum, said it was difficult to see what some of the speakers, including Christian MP Fred Nile, had to do with the proposal.

There is no question that at least some of the attendees on Wednesday were representing groups from outside the region.

Among those distributing leaflets at the meeting were members of the Australia First Party, the Australian Protectionist Party and the Anglo-Australian National Community Council.

But yesterday, Mr Patterson said their views would not be considered by council, which was likely to make a decision on the school by March next year.

“I do have concerns that there are external elements that may be piggy-backing on this and making it either a national issue or one that is not a planning-based issue,” he said.

“All council is interested in is the planning issues - that’s what we’ll be assessing it on and we’ve told people to stick to issues that council has the ability to determine the application on.”