On 27 May 2008 Camden Council rejected plans from the Quranic Society to build a 1,200-student Islamic school in the nearby suburb of Cawdor on planning grounds. The site was south of the centre of Camden adjacent to the Camden General Cemetery and north of the then recently relocated Camden High School. The issue received national and international media coverage. The proposal was opposed from within the local community, many expressing fear and hatred about the presence of Muslims in an area where relatively few Muslims live. There were angry comments by a number of residents in Camden that were viewed as racist and Islamophobic. The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) opposed the proposal. Speaking at a public meeting in December 2007, CDP leader Fred Nile (present alongside Robert Balzola) said he opposed the school "because Islam opposed Christianity". A spokesman for the Quranic Society said it was "absurd" to claim that Muslims are anti-Christian.