Agronomy and business management company Terra Ag took council to court in a bid to reverse its development application (DA) refusal to build a rural supplies business off the Kidman Way, next to the city’s Sikh temple.

In June an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel recommended council approve the DA after finding it was allowed within the ‘B6 industrial zone’.

But council voted to block the proposal in July on the back of vehement opposition from the Sikh community and residents living in homes surrounding the site.

In a special hearing of the Land and Environment Court at Griffith Courthouse on Tuesday, representatives of the proposal objectors, Jenny Churchill, Lawrence Minato and Hardip Chahal, gave evidence in front of a crowded courtroom.

This followed an inspection of the site by the court on Tuesday morning.

On behalf of the Griffith Sikh community Mr Chahal urged the court to consider the issue outside of the legalities and technicalities of the zoning of the land.

“It is important to keep in mind at the heart of this matter. . .is community values,” he said.

Mr Chahal said the proposal would jeopardise the health and environment of the Sikh community, as well as their plans to build a school, aged care facility and hostel around the site.

Mr Chahal said he had never before seen a commercial fertilizer facility built next to a temple, church or a mosque.

However legal representatives for Terra Ag questioned him on this statement, pointing to a franchise of Landmark next door to a Sikh temple in Shepparton.

Mr Chahal said it was his understanding the site in Shepparton was not of the same nature as the site proposed by Terra Ag which would involve unloading, mixing and transporting fertilizer.

The court, presided over by Senior Commissioner Rosemary Martin, adjourned after evidence concluded on Tuesday afternoon, but will reconvene in Sydney on Wednesday.

RELATED LINKS

Court date for Terra Ag saga

Development rejected