Fed-up locals get their revenge on Sonny Bill Williams-backed ‘dream mosque’ – after plans revealed their quiet suburban street would serve up to 20,000 worshippers from 5.30am to 10pm, seven days a week

EXCLUSIVE  

The development of a controversial mosque backed by Sonny Bill Williams has been stalled for almost a year after builders allegedly demolished a protected wall, as local residents continue to insist it should never have been approved in the first place.

The Hurstville Masjid and community hub is set to be built on a residential street in Carlton, southern Sydney, following a lengthy battle with the Georges River Council that ended up in the Land and Environment Court in 2022.

The project, which benefited from star power backing from the likes of dual code sensation Williams, boxer Anthony Mundine and Canterbury Bulldogs legend Hazem El Masri, has long infuriated locals.

It will see an abandoned nursing home and a neighbouring property transformed into a mosque capable of holding 120 people for prayers between 5am and 10.30pm, seven days a week, serving up to 20,000 Muslims in the area.

But a single brick is yet to be laid on the estimated $950,000 project after local residents tipped the council off to the alleged unauthorised demolition of a wall in the existing structure earlier this year.

Georges River Council launched an investigation in February and building work has been paused ever since.

The site – which is a pet project of the NRL legend which he has promoted and fundraised for but is not his personal responsibility – was derelict when Daily Mail Australia visited last week.

The nursing home remains half-demolished, mounds of earth are left dotted among the unkempt grass and overgrown weeds and two dump trucks sit abandoned within the fenced-off site. 

The Hurstville Masjid and community hub is set to be built on a residential street in Carlton, southern Sydney , following a lengthy battle with the Georges River Council that ended up in the Land and Environment Court in 2022. But a single brick is yet to be laid

The project, which benefited from star power backing from the likes of dual code sensation Sonny Bill Williams (pictured with his wife, Alanna), boxer Anthony Mundine and Canterbury Bulldogs legend Hazem El Masri, has long infuriated locals

A council spokesperson said the ‘investigation into this matter is ongoing’ and refused to say when building work may resume.

Over 3,000 local residents signed a petition objecting to the development in 2020 and their opposition remains undiminished.

This publication spoke to a almost a dozen residents on the street, all of whom vociferously opposed the plans, claiming the stress associated with the project has massively impacted their lives. 

Roslyn Magro, 63, whose family has lived in the street for four generations, said the local community had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the plans to no avail.

‘Do you know how many times I’ve packed up to move? But the only reason I haven’t yet is because my husband has been fighting cancer over the last nine years,’ Ms Magro told Daily Mail Australia. 

The nursing home remains half-demolished

Meanwhile, mounds of earth are dotted among the unkempt grass and overgrown weeds and two dump trucks sit abandoned within the fenced-off site

A council spokesperson said the ‘investigation into this matter is ongoing’, refusing to say when building work may resume

‘He’s just got out of hospital today and they’ve found some more. It’s not just fighting this bull**** across the road and the council, it’s all the stress and everything that goes with it.

‘Everybody has stressful problems, but I’m just past the point of cracking.’

Although the building work is on indefinite hold, the project had a separate development application approved last week for the installation of 24 external lights on the finished site.  

‘This place is going to be lit up like a bloody Christmas tree,’ Ms Magro added.

Another resident, who like everyone else did not want to be identified, said the external lighting was over the top.

 ’24 lights? It’s not a sports’ ground,’ they added.

A spokesperson for the council said that a separate DA for the lights had to be submitted as a condition of the original application. 

Another neighbour likened the long-running battle to the biblical story of David and Goliath.

Sonny Bill Williams (pictured with Sheikh Kamal Taleb) gave a sneak peek inside the massive work underway on the controversial new mosque in Sydney’s south back in June 2023

The project will see an abandoned nursing home and a neighbouring property transformed into a mosque capable of holding 120 people for prayers between 5am and 10.30pm, seven days a week, serving up to 20,000 Muslims in the area (pictured: an aerial shot before building work started)

In 2021, locals left signs at the site opposing the mosque, but Williams hit back and said the complaints were based on racism and bigotry (pictured: Williams pictured at the site) 

‘We have been branded racist but this has nothing to do with prejudice,’ they said.

‘We just don’t think it’s appropriate to build a busy mosque on a quiet, residential street. It should have been built in an industrial area.

‘If they have (allegedly) broken the rules during the construction phase, it doesn’t give you much confidence that they will abide by the rules around noise when it is finally built.” 

Council planning chiefs previously estimated it would need at least 97 car park spaces to cope with the demand – based on just one car for every 10 visitors – but the approved plans only have room for 27 cars. 

This, neighbours feel, will cause their street to be filled with cars at all hours as worshippers come and go to pray five times a day.

‘We’ve always been concerned it’s not suitable and our feelings have been ignored,’ one woman said.

‘No one is happy. People are stressed. The frustration and anxiety has got to them. Some are getting ill while others are moving out.’

Previously, some neighbours alleged they had been intimidated with drive-by firecracker attacks.

‘We thought a bomb had gone off,’ a neighbour previously told this publication.

‘It was awful. We didn’t know if it was gunfire or what. It shook our house and we are quite far from where they threw it.’

CCTV video footage shows a car pull up outside one home before a sudden bright flash as the firework explodes in a shower of flames. 

All of the neighbours Daily Mail Australia spoke to said they had installed CCTV cameras in the wake of the disturbing attacks.

It is not suggested that any of the persons names in this article as backing the mosque are responsible for the incidents. 

‘We have all put security cameras in. Everyone is too scared to put their names above the parapet now,’ one added.

Former Canterbury Bulldogs and All Blacks hero Sonny Bill Williams lives in the Carlton area with his South African-born former model wife Alana, 31, and their five young children

In 2021, locals left signs at the site opposing the mosque, but Williams hit back and said the complaints were based on racism and bigotry.

‘Racism is well and truly alive in Botany St, Carlton Sydney,’ Williams, 36, posted on his Instagram page alongside a picture of him next to some of the signs at the site.

‘God willing we’ll be praying 365 DAYS, 5 TIMES A DAY at our new Masjid very soon. May the most high eradicate racism from our society.’

Williams, who played union for the New Zealand All Blacks as well as league with Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters, converted to Islam in 2009 while playing in France. 

He said his experience of living and working in the Islamic community during his four seasons with the Bulldogs led him to convert. 

His mother Lee and brother John have also since converted to the religion as has the father-of-five’s South African-born wife, former model Alana, 31.

In recent months, he has been a vocal critic of Israel and has used his position to speak up for the Palestinian people.

He previously branded local opposition to the mosque as ‘fear mongering’. 

‘The Muslim community has been here in the Carlton area since 1950s and has never had a mosque,’ he told the Daily Telegraph. 

‘The more places of worship, Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, mosques in the area makes me happy because I know people are being taught good morals and ethics.’ 

Last year, Daily Mail Australia revealed video footage of Williams, 39, apparently telling one Chinese-Australian resident resident to ‘go to China‘ in a clash with locals in the middle of the road.  

The neighbour started filming the footy star-turned-commentator as Williams stalked the street outside their homes in front of the site of the new mosque.

Williams’ then suggested the nearby school should be shut down over noise, as the local asks him to come back to discuss the plans. 

The man who filmed the video has since left the street and several other local residents said many had decided to leave the area in the wake of the proposals.

Since the plans for the mosque were given the green light in the Land and Environment Court in December 2022, 13 properties have sold on the street, according to domain.com.au. 

‘But why should we all have to pack up and leave?’, another neighbour said.

‘Some of us have lived here for over 30 years and paid out rates. But it’s as if the council doesn’t care about us.’

Others expressed concern that the mosque would cause their property values to plummet. 

Daily Mail Australia approached the Hurstville Masjid and community hub for comment.