Passsing through Camden many times on the old Hume Highway, it has always seemed a quite nice town, being the last rural town before Sydney, nestled in the Camden valley,just below the famous Razorback mountain. It was built up from the dairy industry and in later years has become a domitary town for people who commute to the Sydney area daily for work.

Now developers have expressed interest in establishing a large school there for Muslim students. Council has rejected the proposal, on the site, citing planning reasons. Whether this will be upheld by the courts or if another site is chosen or the proposal is abandoned has yet to be determined.

Should these developers continue to focus on the Camden area, the impact on the town may be very significant. Firstly the school would require a large staff and they, together with many parents, would look to relocate to Camden, to be near the school. As in other areas this may well result in lowering the real estate values and later adversely effect the social amenity of the area.

My property market contacts already inform me that there has been a significant lowering of purchasser interest at this stage. I have a few investment properties and I would not consider buying property in the Camden area now for the same reasons I would not buy in any area where a proposed development could adversely effect property values.

I feel sorry for the people of Camden as they have worked to have a nice town and now their work and investments are under threat. They have been labled as racist and bigots, and there may be a few, but the vast majority are simply concerned about the future of their town.

The only way they could not lose further is if the developers publicly state they are no longer interested in the area.

Banjo,

Could you elaborate on why putting a new school in Camden would drive property prices down. Surely more people moving there would drive demand, and prices up?

Would you feel differently if this was a Christian School?

cheers,

gw

gw

please look at 'Islamic values' and compare them with 'Christian values' in relation to those outside the faith communities mentioned, and then feel free to ask yourself which type of school you might prefer based on those values alone. (As opposed to errant behavior sensationalized in either history or the media)

A Christian school, does not represent any threat. People can send their children there or not. They might be fed a diet of "Religious instruction" as a pre-condition to admittance, but they knew that b4 hand, and, one should ask 'Where would that instruction take them'?

You can be sure of one thing, it will NOT take them down a path where they read

<<"Fight against those who (1) believe not in Christ Jesus, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by the Lord and his Church (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Christianity) among the people of other Scriptures (Muslims, Hindu's, Buddhists etc), until they pay the 'unbelief tax' with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.">>

Just out of curiosity....IF we did teach that in our Churches, proclaiming it regularly and loudly from our pulpits.. how would you feel about it? Please be honest here.

I find myself repulsed by such an idea. Just imagine if the New Testament DID teach such a thing.. I have a feeling you would be in the large crowd of protesters at St Pauls, waving signs about 'dangerous values' and 'hate speech'..would you not?

gw,
Thanks for your question. Yes in normal circumstances a development of that size and the resulting influx of staff and parents to the town would be seen as a positive thing. That is if the proposal was put forward by the state or any religious group other than Muslims.

Most people could not care less if somebody prays to Allah or a sun god but Muslims have a bad reputation for causing lots of social problems. The result being that most non Muslims do not particularly want to live in the same community where there is a large number of Muslims. The possibility of a large influx of Muslims is the reason the people of Camden voiced their disapproval. They foresee their social amenity and their capital investment highly at risk.

There are plenty of places where the risks are not nearly so great, so property investors and potential non Muslim residents will look elsewhere. This results in a lowering of property values at Camden.

Property values are also subject to the reputation of an area. Camden runs the risk of losing value because people don't want to live somewhere that is seen to be a hive of bigotry and potential lynch mob violence.

Nothing good.