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Church of Scientology clears final hurdle in establishing Rivervale centre

Aaron CorlettSouthern Gazette

THE Church of Scientology has cleared its last hurdle to get a centre up and running in Rivervale.

The $9.3 million project on the corner of Belmont Avenue and Cleaver Avenue was approved in June but today had one of the conditions removed by the Metro Central Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP).

Plans for the centre show multiple classrooms and offices as well as a “purification room”.

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Town planners the Rowe Group went to the State Administrative Tribunal on behalf of the church for a mediation hearing in July to delete three conditions.

Only one of the conditions relating to the electrical substation was removed as the applicants accepted conditions about providing public art on the site to a minimum value of 1 per cent of the estimated cost of the development.

Metro Central JDAP presiding member Charles Johnson said the development had the green light before the revised application came to the panel.

“They decided to appeal some conditions and it was discussed at the confidential mediation session,” he said.

“In the end there was a modifications to the substation and they accepted the issue about public art.

“We have treated the development as any other place of worship.”

The centre had previously been given the green light in 2015 but had a two year extension approved in June.

Scientology is a religion that was created by American author L. Ron Hubbard and has high profile followers such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.