Islamic group wins bid to establish ‘place of worship’ in Winnellie after appeal to NTCAT

AN Islamic group representing Darwin families who follow the denomination has won a bid to move into its new ‘place of worship’

The Association of Islamic Da’wah in Australia has won a bid to establish a ‘place of worship’ in Winnellie.

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AN Islamic group representing seven Darwin families who follow the denomination has won a bid to move into its “place of worship” in Winnellie.

The Association of Islamic Da’wah in Australia applied for approval to use the Steele Street facility in 2018, but were knocked back by the Development Consent Authority (DCA) due to concerns it would be a poor fit in the otherwise industrial area.

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The application was rejected on the basis that noise from nearby businesses would compromise the amenity of the place of worship, even while remaining under the allowable 70dB limit.

Islamic Association given green light to establish "place of worship" in an industrial area in Winnellie.

But in ordering the DCA to reverse its decision, NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Ben O’Loughlin ruled further testing last year showed noise levels inside the building were within acceptable limits.

Mr O’Loughlin found the DCA’s concerns that a neighbouring ice works could potentially cause too much noise while remaining within its prescribed limits were “overly pessimistic”.

“This evidence makes it clear that it would take an impermissible level of noise to cause 40dB of noise within the place of worship,” he said.

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“This new evidence was not before the (DCA) and it can’t be criticised for harbouring concerns about future noise risk to amenity on the evidence before it.

“Nevertheless, with the benefit of this recent evidence, I conclude that the correct and preferable decision is that there is little risk to amenity by noise and non-noise factors.”

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