A Broadmeadows couple have vowed to continue their fight against the building of a mosque in Coolaroo despite a letterbox bomb and a decision by VCAT.
Broadmeadows Progress Association members John and Sonya Rutherford say they will continue to campaign against the siting of a Shi’ite Islamic mosque alongside St Mary’s Ancient Church of the East in Kyabram Street, Coolaroo.
Mrs Rutherford told Star Weekly a bomb exploded in their letterbox in April during the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing, after their address was posted in a local newspaper with details of their fund-raising appeal.
She said police were investigating and CCTV footage showed three people were responsible for planting the device.
Hume council granted a permit for the mosque in September last year and the Rutherfords’ appeal against this decision was overturned by VCAT last week.
Mrs Rutherford said objectors would work with interfaith and multicultural organisations and church and mosque representatives to find an alternative site for the mosque.
She said the church was likely to close as a result of the VCAT decision to allow a mosque next door, and female members in particular would no longer attend.
“What we’re terribly upset about is these Assyrian people [from St Mary’s] are refugees,” she said. “What are we going to do for these people?”
The objections raised by the Rutherfords and seven other progress association members were rejected by VCAT’s two-person panel, planning experts Mark Dwyer and Michael Deidun.
They stated: “Despite the unique characteristics of the St Mary’s Church congregation, there was no evidence that there
is any direct conflict between Iraqi Assyrian Christians and predominantly Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims who seek to develop the mosque.
“We’re concerned the Rutherford group may [albeit initially with good intention] be fuelling the flames of a conflict that does not actually exist, rather than working . . . to promote opportunities for tolerance and understanding that could eventuate in a community where Christians and Muslims already live and worship in relatively even numbers.”
The VCAT hearing set Hume council back about $50,000, while the Rutherfords say cash and support from fund-raising drives has underwritten their expenses.
