Land and Environment Court decision - 105 Wellington Street, Bondi

04 August 2017 | Media Release

MEDIA STATEMENT

The Waverley community is enriched by our diverse faiths and places of worship including our synagogues. Waverley Council has a strong history of partnerships with the Jewish community and will continue to work closely with the Jewish community and Jewish organisations.

FREE (Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe) lodged the original DA with Council last year. During the assessment process, FREE chose to take the decision making power out of the hands of Council and instead sought a ruling from the Land and Environment Court.

It was the Land and Environment Court’s decision to dismiss the appeal put forward by the applicant and refuse the development application.

As part of their development application, FREE themselves chose to submit a Preliminary Threat & Risk Analysis report prepared by a counter-terrorism consultant. This report outlined in some detail a range of risks and threats to the synagogue, its attendees and also to neighbouring properties and passersby. Council did not oppose the evidence put forward in FREE's report. FREE’s report acknowledged that the risks to neighbouring properties and passersby had not been addressed in the DA because protection measures were focused only on people inside the building.  FREE’s counter-terrorism consultant gave expert evidence to the Court during proceedings and  Waverley Council did not challenge his evidence in any way.

Council presented a number of matters for contention. One of these matters was that the security risks identified by FREE’s own report had not yet been fully addressed.  Local residents also submitted concerns on this issue.

The Land & Environment Court found that the potential risks outlined by the applicant’s own report were not addressed appropriately. In particular, the risks to neighbours and passers by were not sufficiently addressed. The Court found that it was clearly the applicant’s responsibility to address these risks. For this reason, the Court refused the appeal.

Waverley Council wishes to reassure the community that Waverley Council did not refuse this development application. It was a decision of the Land and Environment Court.

Council confirms that a synagogue is a permitted use at this location.