"It seems more than a coincidence that each time an Islamic school applies to set up, there are objections about traffic congestion."

Plans to build an Islamic School in Sydney's south west have ground to a halt despite receiving council approval.

Liverpool Council last night voted in favour of the school at Hoxton Park, which will teach up to 800 students.

An independent panel set up to scrutinise community concerns recommended the construction go ahead.

A majority of councillors voted to approve the project but a recision motion, lodged later in the meeting, means the future of the school has again been thrown into doubt.

The Liverpool Action Group's John Andrewsome has told 2GB Andrew Moore, the issue has nothing to do with religion, it's about an increase in traffic.

"Our research has show that the majority of students will be coming from outside the area because there aren't enough people of their type in this area to go to this particular school."

The New South Wales Association of Independent Schools has told the ABC the Islamic community deserve the same rights as other faiths, saying traffic objections are just masking prejudice.

"Our feeling is, it doesn't matter if its an Islamic school, a government school, a Catholic school as long as it satisfies planning regulations and is given the opportunity to adjust plans to satisfy if that's the case," the Association's executive director Dr Geoff Newcombe said.

"It seems more than a coincidence that each time an Islamic school applies to set up, there are objections about traffic congestion."


Geoff Newcombe
16th June 2009

Source: Live News