More than 200 Bendigo residents have voiced their opposition to the Bendigo City Council approving plans for the construction of a $3 million Mosque in the eastern part of the town.

There were some 430 submission against the mosque, with 40 or so for the construction.

"If you're Muslim and you want a mosque, go back to the Middle East. This is Australia,"

One example of the type of Islam-a-phobia that grips the region along with a  deep ignorance towards the unknown.

Regardless the Council has approved the construction, with some changes in the height of the minaret for example.

"Bendigo people own Bendigo, it's their town, they have the right to say mosque or no mosque,"

"We're not racists."  were common threads heard at the meeting.

The overseas students which come to Bendigo to study at the near by La Trobe Uni make up a large part of the Muslim Population in Bendigo.

A Mosque in Bendigo would be a great asset..and lets face it, Bendigo needs all it can get.