Overwhelming community opposition has crushed a woman’s dream to build a mosque in Henley Brook but not her desire to revive the project one day.
Mosque in the Valley Foundation director Maria Marasigan said negative and retaliatory comments directed toward the current owner of the property they had intended to purchase had made her question the approach to the project, and cease preliminary planning discussions with the City of Swan.
The Islamic Shi’a Community of WA’s concept plan was for a mosque with multi-purpose uses plus a number of chalets, education facilities and a cultural centre that Ms Marasigan hoped would help explain Islam to the wider community. “My husband and I went for a drive down Benara Road and saw the Swan Valley and thought it would be the perfect place to create this facility,” she said.
“I’m disappointed. The property owner had a series of threats in the last week so we are no longer going ahead with the proposal. The concept of the facility was to address any misconceptions that people had toward the Islamic community through a cultural centre.”