TOI correspondent from London: British Hindus in Cambridgeshire have lost their bid for the county’s first place of worship after the local council awarded a piece of religious land to a church and Muslim group in the new town of Northstowe and not to a Hindu charity.South Cambridgeshire District Council has leased 0.25 hectares of land for 999 years to Northstowe Church Network (NCN), which will only pay the peppercorn rent.The Hindu Samaj Northstowe (HSN), set up by locals, had also bid for the land, proposing an interfaith and welfare center as well as a temple, but council officials, who evaluated the bids, recorded HSN’s bid at 65% and NCN’s bid at 81%, so the land would go to NCN.NCN’s proposal includes Northstowe Muslims being an anchor tenant with their own Islamic prayer room and education centre.
Although there are many churches and mosques in Cambridgeshire, there is not a single Hindu temple. Hindus have to travel two hours to Birmingham or Wembley to worship. They cannot rent such community spaces overnight, making it difficult to celebrate festivals like Ganapati. Gods are often packed into transport bags, stored in garages, and many have been damaged while being transported from one place to another.“We are very disappointed that the decision was not in our favor,” said Aparna Nigam Saxena, president of HSN. “We have a lot of questions about the transparency and robustness of the process.”
She said they were considering whether to appeal the ruling. HSN’s offer was rejected for various reasons, including a lack of “financial history”, but she said they were not aware this was an important factor. “They should have given us guidance if they wanted to see prepared quotes from our architect.
“It destroyed about 150 Hindu families living in Northstowe. Eva, 16, told TOI that she has never been able to celebrate Shivratri overnight or experience ‘havans’.“I often see my cousins in India celebrating something, and I wish I could celebrate the same way but I can’t. My generation here is being lost because we have been left completely disconnected from our roots, culture and heritage.”Abhishek Srivastava, who comes from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, said he sometimes feels he made a mistake by moving to the UK because his children, aged 9 to 12, are unable to participate in Hindu festivals.Nawash, president of Northstowe Muslims, told TOI that the nearly 200 Muslims in the city need a permanent space to allow them to pray five times a day, as community spaces do not stay open for long, which is why they have applied to be an anchor tenant.
An NCN spokesperson said communities and religious groups with local roots will be allowed to rent out their spaces, “where activities fit the size, setting and residential context of the site”.Consultant Dr Lisa Redrup said: “Bids were assessed against a clear set of criteria available to all bidders and part of the applicant’s role was to explain their project need and considerations relating to specific religious practices.”
