By XAVIER SMERDON
WYNDHAM Council has been divided over whether or not to grant approval for a religious group to build a new church in Werribee.
About 70 members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church attended last week’s council meeting to discover that their application to build a place of worship had been successful.
The church, which will be built at 222-226 Duncans Rd in Werribee will eventually seat up to 800 people.
Cr Shane Bourke encouraged his colleagues to vote against the proposal, arguing that traffic and noise would be issues for neighbouring residents.
“I put myself in the position of the residents who… live there and are going to live there in the future,” Cr Bourke said.
“The traffic, it will be a nightmare for the people who live in that particular area.
“I’ve got grave concerns.”
Cr Bourke stressed that none of his objections were based on the church as a religious group.
Trustee of the church, Tony Cook, told Star that he and his fellow church members would make good neighbours.
Mr Cook said the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church had been in Werribee for more than 40 years and was currently based out of a building in Werribee St.
“There have been a lot of restrictions placed on this proposal, which we willingly accept” Mr Cook said.
“We fully understand the concerns of some of the residents and we have incorporated them into our design and I think we have come up with a very good solution.
“We’re looking forward to working with our new neighbours and we think they will come to regard this as a good outcome.”
Mr Cook said the church had been looking for a new location for about 10 years.
