Citing security fears, Australian council rejects plan to build synagogue
Sydney rabbi slams decision as ‘rewarding terrorism’
A court’s decision to refuse an application to build a synagogue in Sydney due to security concerns came as a “surprise and a shock,” the Chabad rabbi of the Bondi Beach community said on Wednesday.
The Land and Environment Court ruled on Wednesday against an appeal by Chabad and Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe after the Waverley Municipal Council refused to demolish tennis courts and construct a synagogue, due to security concerns.
The council maintained that the site “is unsuitable for a synagogue because of the potential risk to users and other members of the general public.”
It also gave other reasons including that “the proposal does not respond to the context, character and streetscape of the area or provide a sufficient residential identity,” as well as its “unacceptable amenity impacts things such as inadequate solar access, noise and loss of privacy.”
“The decision is unprecedented,” said Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, director of the Bondi Beach Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe. “Its implications are enormous. It basically implies that no Jewish organization should be allowed to exist in residential areas. It stands to stifle Jewish existence and activity in Sydney and indeed, by creating a precedent, the whole of Australia, and by extension rewarding terrorism.
“By pulling the terrorist threat argument they [the council] have shown they are completely out of touch both with the reality and with needs of their constituency. They have effectively placed in jeopardy the future of Jewish life in Australia,” he added.
The council also cited a document provided by the applicant, titled “Chabad Bondi (Wellington St) Synagogue – Preliminary Threat and Risk Analysis February 2016.”
“The proposed development should be refused as the site is not suitable for the proposed synagogue use as the preliminary threat and risk analysis relied on by the applicant raises concerns as to the safety and security of future users of the synagogue, nearby residents, motorists and pedestrians in Wellington Street and the physical measures proposed to deal with the identified threats will have an unacceptable impact on the streetscape and adjoining properties,” the council argued.
Vic Alhadeff, chief executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, told news.com.au that he’d never heard of any other religious group being denied a place of worship just because it was targeted by extremists. He added that the move was setting a dangerous precedent.
“It’s a very sad day for Australia if an established community, which needs a house of worship, is refused permission to build it because of fear that others may pose a threat,” Alhadeff said.
A Waverley Council representative told the news outlet that the court had accepted the council’s position, which was supported by several residents’ concerns, an argument disputed by Ulman, who said, “They have sacrificed the needs of a large local community and claimed the exact opposite, that the community opposes the proposal.”