Concerned residents of properties located near the Dhamsuwa Meditation Centre in Clonbinane have called on the Mitchell Shire Council to object to its future development, flagging increased traffic and the development and use of land not for farming purposes in a farming zone as reason for their objection.
“The neighbours have all worked very hard to live in this beautiful, peaceful countryside, and chosen farm zoning area for the peace and purpose of the land … and to be away from industrial-like activities as proposed with this development,” they said.
“We live in a farming area for its peacefulness. Not to drive down our quiet country road to have to sit at traffic management signs while they conduct worshipping ceremonies.
“Clonbinane residents are going to be impacted by traffic management stopping cars in a 100km/h zone to allow worshippers to enter the property. This will block the road and cause congestion.
“Organisations such as this are better suited for an industrial area which have the infrastructure to deal with such large sums of people and traffic.”
Adding further reason for concern, the residents claimed that the centre had not been maintaining the land, increasing the risk of fire.
“We went through two summers and they did not maintain their land,” they said.
“The grass was very long and dangerous. They do not understand what the locals have gone through out here during Black Saturday. Some of us have lost everything. They have been seen driving cars with hot exhausts through paddocks with long grass when they hold ceremonies. Neighbours have had to call the CFA.
“If there was another catastrophic event like Black Saturday, how could everyone evacuate safely … when there is only one road in and one road out to Mount Disappointment?”
However, in an article by the Review titled Keeping the peace: No plans for Clonbinane development (December 20, 2022), Dhamsuwa Meditation Centre Coordinator Pushpa Jayakody claimed that contrary to popular belief, the centre had no plans to build a 10-stage development and was intent on preserving the peaceful environment.
“We have no intention to disturb anything. We are in favour of conserving and preserving the environment. We are more interested in keeping this environment the way it is—quiet,” she said.
But the residents pointed to the construction of a new meditation hall at the centre’s sister temple, Bhaddeka Vihari Buddhist Monastery, located in Ripplebrook, as evidence of their plans to develop the land.
“They have always had full intentions of turning this old farmland into a temple. Look at their sister temple. They have done the same to this farmhouse. It has been turned into a meditation retreat and hosts many large ceremonies. We don’t want that here as we are in a nice, quiet farming area,” they said.
Confirming suspicions, Mitchell Shire Council Chief Executive Brett Luxford said that council had been approached for approval of a planning permit.
“Council currently has before it a planning permit application seeking consideration and approval for the Use and Development of the land for a Place of Assembly Monastery.
“The land currently has a single dwelling and numerous outbuildings, and the proposal seeks planning approval to repurpose the existing dwelling, which is currently used as a residence for five monks, to allow a small Place of Worship (Buddhist Monastery). The subject land is not covered by a Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO). However, this matter, along with other concerns raised by residents, will be considered and addressed during the application assessment.”
The residents urged council to carefully consider the implications of the centre’s developments.
“If the Mitchell Shire Council allows any such development from any organisation, whether it’s religious, commercial, or industrial, then the shire is setting a precedent for any future organisations to develop whatever they like within a farming zone,” they said.
“The application has requested to build a 16-car carpark, a toilet block, a meditation hall … to cater for 35 people, and to remove many trees which will allow them to host large ceremonies of up to 150 guests with traffic management. How is this ‘keeping the peace’ for locals?”
The Review reached out to the Dhamsuwa Meditation Centre for comment but were not provided with a response.
