A MIGHTY storm didn’t deter a crowd of 250 from gathering in Currumbin Waters yesterday afternoon to object to the building of a mosque in the area.

Currumbin residents stood in the rain for an hour to discuss ways to petition against a proposed “place of worship” on the corner of Villiers and Coghill drives.

The crowd raised their concerns with Councillor Chris Robbins but the community meeting quickly turned heated.

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media_camera Councillor Chris Robbins speaking to protesters. Photo by Richard Gosling.

“What’s going to happen next?” asked 16-year-old Grace Wolfe.

“Are we going to have to have prayer services at school?

“I don’t want to have to convert or worry about whether they are going to try and convert me.”

Angry residents applauded her words but Cr Robbins later reminded the crowd not to discriminate.

“You can object to it, you can hate it or whatever, but the law is you can’t discriminate,” said Cr Robbins.

“The town plan is not able to discriminate and say that a land use ... can only be used for a particular religion.”

media_camera Residents who are protesting against the proposed mosque in their suburb. Photo by Richard Gosling.

Cr Robbins continued to explain how residents could lodge objections to the development through normal council process but the agitated crowd was hard to settle.

“We don’t want that culture here,” shouted a Currumbin resident.

Locals continued to cry their concerns in the pouring rain but organiser Tracey Thompson said the gathering was “not about race or religion”.

“It’s a meeting to provide information to the community on what they need to do to lobby the objection,” she said.

media_camera The site of the proposed “place of worship”. Photo by Richard Gosling

“My main concerns are the noise, the additional traffic, the operating hours and the impact it will have on the special school as well as the residents.

“I don’t want to have to hear the call for prayer at four o’clock in the morning.”

The development application was lodged with the council.

If approved, the mosque would be established within an existing warehouse building, renovated to create worship and recreational rooms.

Its proposed operating hours are 7am-10pm, with early services from 4am.

No one representing the proposed development was at the meeting.