MEDIA RELEASE - 18 OCTOBER 2010

Parramatta City Councillors voted 9-to-5 to transfer all existing Places of Worship to the SP1 Special Zone in order to preserve the rights of faith communities, while also achieving harmony in the residential neighbourhoods. This regulatory practice used to exist before the NSW State Government’s current planning template which obliged all NSW local councils to allow Places of Worship in low density neighbourhoods without any limits on their size.

“The NSW State Government originally obliged all councils to allow Places of Worship regardless of their size. This meant small parcels of land can be purchased cheaply by religious communities on good faith, and their membership could increase exponentially to the point where there are vehicular congestions in local streets and elevated levels of music at times when their neighbours used to enjoy for their rest,” said Clr Chiang Lim, the immediate past Deputy Lord Mayor.

The ‘new’ regulation for Places of Worship will mean that existing faith communities will be treated under planning terms not as residential activity but as religious and related activities. Moreover, the ‘new’ regulation will mean that new faith communities can still be introduced even in low density residential neighbourhoods on a case-by-case basis.

“This ensures the continued recognition that Places of Worship remains important in the lives of our community, including residential neighbourhoods. Parramatta City Council remains open to new proposals for new faith communities and will wisely balance the needs of the neighbourhood with the important need for new Places of Worship,” said Clr Lim.

The previous controversy over the blunt omission of Places of Worship in low density residential zones evolved to the prohibition of Places of Worship only in cul-de-sacs and the regulation of all others in terms of on-site car parking requirements. This new ‘regulation’ brings a more commonsense balance which was the practice for in previous decades.

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For any further information, please contact Clr Chiang Lim,
Parramatta City Council on 0427 277 299 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it