President Ave, Kogarah: Residents oppose plan to build St Pope Kyrillos VI and St Habib Girgis Coptic Orthodox Church

Residents are pushing back against an “unfair” bid to build a church in Sydney’s south, fearing it will exacerbate parking woes and bring “traffic, people and unnecessary noise”.

An artist’s impression of the proposed church, from President Ave. Picture: Bayside Council

Residents are pushing back against an “unfair” proposal to build a church in Sydney’s south, fearing it will add to their street’s existing parking woes and spell the end of their “peaceful weekends”.

The St Pope Kyrillos VI and St Habib Girgis Coptic Orthodox Church is hoping to build a new place of public worship on President Ave in Kogarah.

Documents lodged with Bayside Council reveal plans to demolish three houses and surrounding trees in order to construct a two-storey church, with only 29 on-site parking spaces.

The proposal outlines that the church building would also include an ancillary baptistery, a parents’ room, administrative office area, an ancillary main hall, a Sunday school hall, a kitchen, a library and multipurpose rooms.

An aerial view of the three houses proposed to be demolished to make way for the church. Picture: Bayside Council

An aerial view of an artist's impression of the proposed church. Picture: Bayside Council

Only a couple of the 29 parking spots will be above ground, with the other 27 set to be in an underground carpark.

One of the site’s neighbours, Dimitri Mentis, said he didn’t want people at the church “looking into my backyard”.

“It’s going to be two storeys tall,” he said.

“I don’t want the fumes from their carpark going into my property. I don’t want the sound or noise that comes from cars going up and down the ramp.”

His reference to a ramp relates to the main vehicle access to the site, which the plans state will be from Moorefield Ave, with pedestrian access oriented to Moorefield Ave.

The proposal states attendance at church services would generally be capped at 150 people, though this number be exceeded on special occasions like Christmas, Easter, weddings and baptisms may exceed this.

A southside view of Moorefield Ave. Picture: Bayside Council

Moorefield Ave, which will run alongside the church, already struggles with a lack of parking. Picture: Bayside Council

The proposal also states there will be “no amplified music associated with church services”, but “leaders conducting church services will speak through a public address system if necessary”.

The hours range from as early as 5.30am to as late as 8.30pm, seven days a week.

Resident and former Rockdale councillor Anne Field told this masthead she wasn’t rejecting the religion, with her opposition all about the location.

“The building is in a totally inappropriate position,” she said.

“It’s directly opposite West Botany St, which is a very busy street. Moorefield Ave in itself is a very narrow street.

“There’s going to be a considerable traffic back-up. There will be many, many accidents.

Local resident Anne Field, who is opposed to the church proposal. Picture: Supplied

“We’re not complaining about the church. We’re complaining about the location of the church.”

According to Mrs Field, not all residents were notified of the development application and “only a selective number” were given a heads-up.

“I live in the bottom of Oakdale Ave and people down my end of the street use Moorefield Ave,” she said.

“It’s a ridiculous proposal in the location where it is.”

One unnamed resident submission stated the issue they had with the proposal was due to a severe “lack of parking, inappropriate location and loss of residential amenity”.

Another resident, who has lived in the area for 54 years, blasted the proposal as an “unfair subjection to the neighbouring properties”.

“Instead of a peaceful weekend, the church will bring traffic, people and unnecessary noise,” they said.

The application was originally open for public comment until October 31, but the deadline has been extended to November 21 due to heavy backlash from residents.