UK Hindu group loses bid for first temple site in Cambridgeshire as council awards land to church and Muslim group

A proposal to establish Cambridgeshire's first Hindu temple has been turned down after a local district council awarded the site to a church-led project that will also provide space for the local Muslim community.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has granted a 999-year lease on a 0.25-hectare plot in the new town of Northstowe to the Northstowe Church Network (NCN), which will pay a peppercorn rent, according to a report by TOI.

Council awards site after bid assessment

Hindu Samaj Northstowe (HSN), a charity established by local residents, had also applied for the land with plans to build a Hindu temple alongside an interfaith and well-being centre.

However, council officers evaluating the proposals awarded HSN's bid a score of 65%, compared with 81% for NCN's proposal, resulting in the land being allocated to the church network.

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NCN's plans include providing Northstowe Muslims with a dedicated Islamic prayer room and an education centre as an anchor tenant.

Community highlights lack of a Hindu temple

Although Cambridgeshire has several churches and mosques, it does not have a Hindu temple. Local Hindus currently travel up to two hours to Birmingham or Wembley for worship.

The lack of a permanent place of worship also makes it difficult to celebrate festivals such as Ganapati, as community venues cannot be hired overnight. Deities are often stored in carrier bags or garages and have been damaged after being repeatedly moved between temporary locations.

Hindu charity raises concerns over process

Aparna Nigam-Saxena, chair of HSN, expressed disappointment over the outcome.

“We are very disappointed the decision did not go in our favour…we have a lot of questions about transparency and robustness of the process.”

She said the group was considering whether to appeal the decision.

According to Nigam-Saxena, HSN's proposal lost marks for several reasons, including a lack of a "financial track record", but she said the charity had not realised this would be a key assessment criterion.

“They should have given us guidelines if they wanted to see prepared quotes from our architect.”

Residents voice disappointment

The decision has left around 150 Hindu families in Northstowe disappointed.

Eyva, 16, told TOI she had 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 in the same way but I can’t. My generation here is being lost as we are being left completely separate from our roots, culture and heritage.”

Council defends selection process

Jawad Nawash, chair of Northstowe Muslims, told TOI that the town's more than 200 Muslims required a permanent place of worship because existing community venues were not available for the five daily prayers. He said this was why the group applied to become an anchor tenant.

An NCN spokesperson said locally based community and faith organisations would be able to hire the facilities "where activities fit the scale, setting and residential context of the site."

Councillor Dr Lisa Redrup defended the council's decision, saying:

“Bids were assessed against a clear set of criteria available to all bidders and part of the applicant’s role was to explain the need of their project and considerations relating to specific faith practices.”