PLANS to build a mosque in Ballarat are being made by the city's Islamic society.A growing Muslim population in the city and a lack of community or prayer facilities has prompted a group of residents to form the society and look at their options. Census figures show 130 Ballarat residents listed their religion as Islam in the most recent Australian census, a figure up from 66 a decade earlier. Currently the residents need to travel to a mosque in Sunshine to pray, a situation they believe is turning people away from considering the city as a place to live and work.Society spokesman Fahd Alizai, who works at the University of Ballarat, said the lack of community feeling among Muslims in the city was a deterrent to potential new residents."Ballarat is the third largest centre in Victoria and yet it doesn't have a place for worship for Muslim people," he said."There is a huge influx of overseas workers, who are basically professional, and whether they be temporary residents or on visas or Australian nationals, often the most important thing is the availability of a place to worship or at the least a community centre."It is very important to have a kind of engagement between people."Mr Alizai said he had started work in Ballarat but had continued to commute from Melbourne because he was concerned about the lack of community in the regional city."There was no engagement, I was completely isolated," he said."But then I moved three or four months ago because of the fact we now have a number of people coming together and we know each other and there is a community growing in Ballarat."There are many doctors and professionals coming into Ballarat and if you really want them to stay for good, you must be flexible and let us have a small place of worship."We don't want people to go back to Melbourne, to urban areas, because there are places to pray."You try and get people come and work here but if they are Muslim they say, `You don't have a mosque or a community centre'."I know that's something I was going through when I was making my decision."Mr Alizai said the Islamic society was being registered with the Islamic Council of Victoria and had held preliminary discussions with Ballarat's federal and local government representatives.The group is now seeking to raise money."We would like to build a small place initially, just feel that we have something and we can't afford a huge mosque," he said."One option is to buy an existing building and convert it but whatever we do it is going to take a long time and it will depend on funding availability and the help of people in Ballarat."A small prayer room is being set up at the University of Ballarat but with access restricted to staff and students, many are missing out.Melbourne has around 55 mosques while Bendigo and Geelong also have places of worship for their Muslim residents.