Australian Muslim Welfare Centre Minto lodges plans to boost capacity after dispute with Campbelltown Council

A Muslim group banned from praying in large numbers after a council probe uncovered a community centre being used as a place of worship, has lodged plans to boost the venue’s capacity.

The Australian Muslim Welfare Centre is based in Minto. Picture: Facebook.

Just weeks after a group of Sydney Muslims were banned from praying in large numbers after a council investigation uncovered the use of the community centre as a place of worship, new plans have been lodged to boost the number of people allowed at the site.

Australian Muslim Welfare Centre at Minto has applied to Campbelltown Council to increase the maximum attendance from 50 to 100 people for weekly activities.

For events taking place on Friday to Sunday – of which only two a day is allowed – the centre has applied to boost the number of people from 150 to 220.

The move comes after Campbelltown Council issued an official order prohibiting the cultural centre from allegedly being used as a place of public worship, as a result of an investigation which found large numbers of people congregating above capacity limits.

Anisul Afsar, the president of the welfare centre, has refuted council’s claims the centre was used as a place of public worship and said the application to increase capacity was not in response to the council’s recent order, but was an overdue application in response to an unusual or discriminatory condition” in the original consent.

The Australian Muslim Welfare Centre is based in Minto and the council has issued a development control order on the site.

He said the centre had 1515 members, mostly residing in the Campbelltown area, and provides social, cultural, intellectual and welfare activities.

“We have fulfilled all requirements such as hall size, number of male, female and disabled toilets, number of car parks, etc., for 150 occupancies at all times, but council permitted us to gather 150 people once a month only,” Dr Afsar said.

“People don’t want to hire the centre if the number is restricted to 50. We are losing money. We have raised our concern and requested the council to remove this restriction and allow 150 at least two to three days per week soon after we received the consent in 2018.”

A petition to revoke the order garnered more than 5000 signatures.

Dr Afsar said the centre would continue the appeal made against council’s order, saying it was issued based on the alleged use of the venue – not the number of people at the address.

Campbelltown Council confirmed in September the order was issued in March for the Eagleview Rd property following an investigation after several complaints.

It claimed the site’s development consent for use as a community facility had continuously been breached, and the site was not being used under its development consent.

“Following discussions with the owners, an extension of the development control order was granted to December 2023 to allow them additional time to rectify the breaches,” the council’s director of city planning and environment, Jim Baldwin, said at the time.

“The maximum attendance allowed by the development consent for regular activities is 50 people, which can be extended to 150 people for special occasions a maximum of 12 times a year.”

It is understood the appeal against the order lodged with the Land and Environment Court will be heard early next year.