According to the 2023 Census, the local Muslim community accounts for only 0.3% of the Taup\u014d district population.<\/p>\n
However, with the ever-increasing popularity of Taup\u014d as a place to eat, pray and love, local Muslim leaders have seen the need for an upgrade.<\/p>\n
They lodged a resource consent application with the Taup\u014d District Council early last year. The council granted consent in April 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proposing the construction of Taup\u014d\u2019s first dedicated masjid \u2014 a place of worship, reflection, community service, and genuine hospitality,” the Taup\u014d Islamic Centre said in a statement recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an institution that will serve all of Taup\u014d, regardless of faith, background, or belief.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018There\u2019s only one toilet!\u2019<\/p>\n
Plans for the proposed Taupo masjid upgrade. Photo credit – Taup\u014d Islamic Centre<\/p>\n
Taup\u014d Islamic Centre trustee Mohammed Hanif Patel acknowledged there were not many Muslims living in Taup\u014d, though there was a need for a new facility due to a large number of travellers..<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have tour buses of Muslim tourists who come here to pray, and there\u2019s only one toilet!\u201d<\/p>\n
Taup\u014d Islamic Centre intends to replace the current building with a purpose-built, two-storey facility. Due to the small size of the corner plot, the plan is to build up, rather than out.<\/p>\n
The plans submitted to Taup\u014d District Council as part of the resource consent application include provisions for a larger prayer hall, separate male and female toilets, two disabled toilets, a library, a classroom and a space to conduct Muslim funeral rites.<\/p>\n
Plans for the proposed Taupo masjid upgrade. Image \/ Taup\u014d Islamic Centre<\/p>\n
The Taup\u014d Muslim community also intends to use the new masjid as a headquarters for future charitable activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe intend to operate a regular food pack distribution programme from the mosque, supporting families in Taup\u014d who are experiencing hardship,\u201d the centre\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether a recipient is Christian, M\u0101ori, atheist, or of any other background is entirely beside the point. Need is the only criterion.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also planned on making the building accessible to the wider community, should they need meeting rooms, which would be free of charge.<\/p>\n
The new masjid would be funded by New Zealand\u2019s Muslim community and \u201cpartners in Malaysia\u201d, the centre said.<\/p>\n
While the centre has received resource consent, building consent has not yet been applied for.<\/p>\n
The centre said it would apply for building consent once sufficient funds had been raised for the development.<\/p>\n
Support from elected officials<\/p>\n
Plans for the proposed Taupo masjid upgrade. Photo credit \/ Taup\u014d Islamic Centre.<\/p>\n
The development has been the target of several Islamophobic attacks by locals and misinformation about the development has been spread on social media. <\/p>\n
One group has started an online petition against the masjid and complained to Taup\u014d district councillors.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
The resource consent process has been handled by Taup\u014d District Council staff, not elected members.<\/p>\n
However, Taup\u014d Mayor John Funnell and deputy mayor Kevin Taylor expressed their support for the masjid. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll go much further if we move forward as one community,\u201d Funnell said.<\/p>\n
Taylor said: \u201cAs a Christian, I support the lawful of expression of faith, whatever that might be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I don\u2019t adhere to the tenets of Islam, I respect their right to practise their faith.<\/p>\n
\u201dIf I object to their ability to express their faith, that opens the door to someone else to object to my expression of faith, and that is dangerous.”<\/p>\n
Taup\u014d Islamic Centre trustee Haji Mohammed Hanif Patel said: \u201cIn 11 years, we have not had a single complaint [about our masjid], we don\u2019t know why these things have started!\u201d<\/p>\n
A council spokesperson confirmed that apart from one visit from Te Roopu o Tapuaeharuru, they had not received any official complaints about the Taup\u014d Islamic Centre since it opened in 2015.<\/p>\n
Plans for the proposed Taupo masjid upgrade. Photo credit \/ Taup\u014d Islamic Centre.<\/p>\n
Bronson Perich is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist for Taup\u014d and South Waikato based at the Waikato Herald.<\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to the 2023 Census, the local Muslim community accounts for only 0.3% of the Taup\u014d district population.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33322,1558,1550,226904,3158,10053,134786,121713,8444,111,43,139,69,1642,32361,29056,7811,4499,8207,1852,14043],"class_list":["post-444558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-33322","tag-been","tag-centre","tag-fourbedroom","tag-headquarters","tag-house","tag-islamic","tag-kaimanawa","tag-mosque","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-online","tag-opposition","tag-proposed","tag-since","tag-small","tag-sparks","tag-taup","tag-upgrade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}