Auburn Islamic Al-Faisal College’s plans for more students rejected

A plan for Australia’s largest Islamic school to bump up its student intake has been knocked back. Find out why the proposal was rejected.

Al-Faisal College’s plans to accommodate more students and share parking with a mosque have been thwarted.

A proposal for Australia’s largest Islamic school to expand has hit a hurdle after a planning panel rejected an application for 400 more students and an extra parking area following community concerns over traffic and noise.

Al-Faisal College at Auburn last year submitted plans with Cumberland Council to increase student numbers from 2000 to 2400 at its Auburn Rd site.

To cope with extra students and four extra staff, the proposal also included using the basement at the Omar Mosque at nearby Harrow Rd for staff and parents.

But a council report declared it unsafe because Friday prayer time would clash with school pick-up times and generate “competing land uses”.

The project generated 10 objections from residents of surrounding properties.

Aykut Sayan says noise is the key concern with extra students.

“The area suffers from traffic jams and parents are known to illegally park and block driveways of private dwellings or park in private property outside garages or even on footpaths,’’ one objection read.

There is more than 100m between the school and mosque. Picture: Cumberland Council

Another stated “the school traffic controllers do nothing” and “school management is not interested in addressing resident concerns”.

Residents said police had been called to book motorists parking illegally.

At a Cumberland local planning panel meeting this month, Aykut Sayan said noise concerns were residents’ biggest gripe with the proposal.

Mr Sayan, who has owned several units nearby for almost 20 years and spoke on behalf of residents as a strata spokesman, criticised the plans to screen “the whole school” by installing glass panels to cover the playground as a noise solution.

“It does have a negative impact on the neighbours on the southern end and that’s to do with heat and noise,’’ he said.

“As a representative of the strata community for that building, we’d like to try and work together to come up with a resolution in terms of acoustics.’’

Al-Faisal College was approached for comment.