Controversial Qld mosque a step closer
A controversial mosque proposed for the Gold Coast is a step closer to opening its doors after it was endorsed by a council committee.
However, the Currumbin mosque can only go ahead if it is approved at a full Gold Coast Regional Council meeting on Tuesday.
Up to 50 people, some holding anti-Islam signs, protested outside a council planning committee meeting that voted on the proposal on Wednesday.
Signs at the protest outside council chambers in Bundall included "Super mosque today, Sharia Law and ISIS tomorrow, beheading the next" and "Burqua or bikini's (sic) you decide".
After a three-hour debate, the committee voted five to two in favour of endorsing a proposal by Salsabil Charity Organisation Ltd to convert a Currumbin warehouse into "a place of worship".
A council spokesman told AAP councillors Chris Robbins and Paul Taylor rejected the plan because of social and planning issues.
About 30 residents who packed the public gallery at the meeting clapped and cheered when Cr Robbins said plans for the mosque should be rejected.
The Salsabil organisation wants to convert an existing warehouse on a 4768 square metre site on the corner of Villiers and Coghill drives into a mosque.
Thousands of people submitted objections to the proposal, while about 150 made submissions in support.
Concerns raised included the scale of the proposal, the social and economic impacts, traffic and noise issues, and hours of operation.
A social media page opposing the mosque has about 4000 supporters.
A police spokesman told AAP that officers attended the protest but there were no arrests.
A spokesman from Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate's office said the mayor wouldn't be available to comment until he had been briefed by the planning committee chair.
