MELBOURNE – The building of Sikh Gurdwara in Officer has been given the green light after all 24 objectors to the development withdrew from the VCAT hearing.
Plans by the Sikh community to develop a 123-capacity place of worship at 33 Officer Road were stunted by the objections of 24 residents who approached the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on the matter.
Council have confirmed that the VCAT hearing, which was fixed for Thursday 3 May, has now been withdrawn.
“VCAT has notified council that the appeal has been withdrawn. Council has now issued the planning permit,” Council’s Manager Development and Compliance Services Debbie Tyson said.
The news comes at a great relief for the local Sikh community, who have been struggling for months to find a permanent place of worship. The current Gurdwara setup is based in a house like building in Pakenham.
“Council said they have never seen anything like this,” Sikh community spokesperson Harpreet Singh said.
“We are so very relieved to hear this news; I haven’t been sleeping for months because I’ve been so anxious about the hearing.
“We hope to get the works underway as soon as possible.”
Mr Singh estimates the cost of the development to be around $300,000.
“It is so good that we can finally operate as a place of worship.
“We will start making plans on how we can generate the resources to start developing.”
Officer resident Dianne Macdermid, who spearheaded the VCAT case against the development, said the group withdrew after seeking legal advice.
“We were advised that we possibly wouldn’t win, which in turn would mean a large financial blow on our end,” she said.
“The objection was in my name, and I simply didn’t have the experience or the time to follow through with the hearing.”
“We weren’t being supported by council either. It was like butting our heads against a brick wall.”
Ms Macdermid said the groups’ main concern was that a green wedge zone was not a suitable area for a place of worship.
“We didn’t believe it was the correct area for it – the road outside is not built for large amounts of traffic.
“Pushbike riders and horse riders frequently use that road, as well as kids walking home from school, and my husband had a near-miss with a car pulling out of that driveway.
“It’s a dangerous spot. We just hope there are no accidents with the increased volume of traffic.”