Neighbours are divided over a proposed “halal housing” development in Sydney’s west.
While some feared it would lead to friction with Muslims, others welcomed the plan.
Qartaba Homes is promoting its 145-lot subdivision at Riverstone, near Rouse Hill, as Australia’s “very first project of its kind for the Muslim community”, The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday.
The developer yesterday insisted people of any religion were welcome to purchase land.
But resident Jeanette Mowbray said she feared the development would lead to Muslims “taking over” the area.
Christine Stacy, 54, worried it could further upset locals already frustrated with Muslim burial practices at the local cemetery.
“To put that here is not in the community’s best interests. It’s going to create aggression,” she said.
Local business owners predictably said they would welcome more people to bring extra business to Riverstone‘s main street.
“I think it’s good. We’ll have more beautiful people for the village,” bakery owner Tung Do said.
But another business owner, who did not want to be named, said while she was all for the community expanding, she didn’t believe “that their community wants to be part of our community”.
Many residents expressed their concerns that non-Muslims would be excluded from the site, while others said the developers were welcome to the land, which they said was flood prone.
Qartaba director Wajahat Rana said the company was happy to sell blocks of land to anyone.
“We’re not doing this as an Islamic organisation, we’re doing it as business people and we’d like to keep it like that,” he said.
“We want all religions to be living together in Australia, side-by-side. We don’t want division.”
University of Technology Sydney sociology professor Andrew Jakubowicz said the creation of religious enclaves was not a new concept: “The phenomenon of creating an environment where people of a particular religious faith feel comfortable is a very old Christian tradition, associated particularly with the Anglican church.
“The Jewish community also has taken steps to draw a line around neighbourhoods, not to keep others out but to make it safe for Jews.”