Court rejects Sydney Islamic schoolThe Land and Environment Court has knocked back an appeal for the proposed construction of an Islamic School at Camden in Sydney's outer south-west.
The Quranic Society's original plan was refused by Camden Council, which rejected the 1,200 student development on planning grounds.
The society altered the plans, reducing capacity to 900 pupils, before challenging the council's decision in the Land and Environment Court.
The court heard submissions from the public, with one local resident saying there were fears public Christmas decorations would no longer be allowed because of cultural nit-picking.
Another resident told the court that Islam requires its followers to seek world domination.
Residents said Camden was addressing a problem that was facing many Australian communities, and that had been unfairly labelled as racist and bigoted.
Today, the Land and Environment Court has decided that the Quranic Society's development application was not suitable for the rural nature of the land.
Camden Council's lawyer Chris Shaw says the council has been vindicated.
"Once people read the decision they will show that there's no matters of racism involved at all," he said.
The Quranic Society says it will most likely not be figting this latest decision.
Its Vice President Issam Obeid says there are no plans to appeal again.
"We just take it with an open heart and just carry on with our things," he said.
