A leader of Canberra's Islamic community said it retained faith in the legal process after many followers were left shocked by a belated attempt to challenge the construction of the Gungahlin mosque.
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Canberra Muslim Community Inc president Nazre Sobhan said he was surprised by this week's application from the Concerned Citizens of Canberra to continue the long-running dispute, after the ACT Supreme Court had thrown out the vocal group's challenge in July.
"There has been a lot of people who were shocked, we thought the last verdict was the end of the matter," Dr Sobhan said.
"But we also have confidence in due process, and we hope things will be taken care of in the right manner."
The 500-capacity mosque, the capital's second after the building in Yarralumla, has been on hold due to legal proceedings since first being approved by the ACT Planning and Land Authority in 2012.
The citizens' group applied on Wednesday for permission to lodge an appeal, after they missed the cut-off date for a challenge. The application will be heard on November 14.
Dr Sobhan said the latest opposition continued the stress the community had felt on the issue, with a sense the campaign was "never-ending".
"But what can we do apart from waiting ... it's a judicial process, and we have a huge amount of faith in the judicial process.
Excavations for The Valley Avenue mosque started several months ago.
Contact details for the citizens' group were not known.
