Punjab Newsline | London
British Hindus in Cambridgeshire have suffered a setback in their long-running effort to establish the county's first Hindu temple after the South Cambridgeshire District Council awarded a parcel of land in Northstowe to the Northstowe Church Network (NCN) instead of a Hindu charity.
The council approved a 999-year lease for a 0.2-hectare site to NCN at a nominal rent for religious and community purposes.
The Hindu Samaj Northstowe (HSN) had also submitted a proposal for the site, planning to build a Hindu temple along with a multi-faith community centre and a wellbeing centre. However, council officials evaluating the bids awarded HSN a score of 65%, while NCN's proposal received 81%, resulting in the land being allocated to the church-led project.
NCN's proposal includes a partnership with Northstowe's Muslim community, which would serve as an anchor tenant with dedicated facilities for an Islamic prayer hall and education centre.
The decision has disappointed the local Hindu community, which says Cambridgeshire has several churches and mosques but no Hindu temple. As a result, many families reportedly travel up to two hours to Birmingham or Wembley to attend religious services and celebrate festivals.
The lack of a permanent worship space also forces community members to store and transport idols between temporary venues, with some being damaged in the process.
HSN Chair Aparna Nigam-Saxena expressed disappointment over the outcome, saying the organisation has serious concerns about the transparency and robustness of the evaluation process.
She said HSN is considering filing an appeal, adding that the bid was marked down for reasons including a lack of financial track record. According to Nigam-Saxena, the group had not been informed that this would be a key evaluation criterion and would have provided additional architectural cost estimates had clearer guidance been given.
