A plan to demolish a scout hut in North London and replace it with a Hindu temple has prompted more than 150 objections, overwhelmingly from members and trustees of a nearby Greek Orthodox Church. They claim there are ‘other places to worship nearby’ and the temple would have a negative impact on noise and traffic, however, the applicant has accused the church of sending out ‘clearly misleading information’.
Plans submitted to Harrow Council propose demolishing the scout hut in Kenton and build a two-storey temple to serve the local Swaminarayan Gurukul Rajkot section of the Hindu community. The group is currently based at Priestmean Primary School in Hartford Avenue, just under two miles away from the site. Alongside the temple, there are plans for an additional two-bedroom accommodation for the priest.
However, the plans have received a backlash due to the site’s close proximity to another religious building, the St Panteleimon Greek Orthodox Church, which is located about three metres away and comprises clergy, council members and volunteers. A consultation resulted in 162 objections to the scheme, including the Orthodox Churches priest who claims to be ‘deeply concerned’ about the impact the temple would have on their life and the ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their home.
The priest, who lives in the vicarage on Kenton Road, suggested the temple would have an adverse effect on traffic congestion and could ’cause friction’ with worshippers, as well as parents taking their children to the nearby St Panteleimon Nursery School. They also claim the application has given no consideration to when services take place at the church, including funerals, weddings, or Christenings and are concerned about the impact of noise pollution during any potential gatherings at the temple.
The priest added: “During parts of the Divine Liturgy, our faithful worship in silence. Unfortunately, there have been times when this silence has been disturbed from external sounds including noisy cars accelerating or blowing their horns, police and ambulance sirens or noisy drumming in Kenton Road.”
Whilst some of the opposition also came from residents and the nearby nursery school, the vast majority were people associated with the church. The objectors largely echoed the same sentiments, including concerns about the possibility of ‘up to 200’ people congregating at the temple and suggested the community could use four other temple sites situated nearby.
However, the applicant has disputed a number of the claims made. They state that it is ‘not clear’ where the figure of 200 people attending the temple has come from and accused the church of providing local residents with ‘clearly misleading information’.
The application proposes 30-minute prayer sessions seven days a week from 9am, which would have between five and 10 attendees, as well as additional half an hour prayer sessions from 6.30pm on weekdays – which they anticipate will be attended by between 10 and 12 members – and 30-minute sessions at 6.30pm on weekends attended by between 25 and 50 people.
They also outline plans for weekly ‘children’s cultural classes’ to take place between 7.30pm and 9pm for 15 to 20 attendees and monthly ‘festival celebrations’ from 6pm to 9pm for between 50 and 100 attendees.
The applicant also pointed out that the other Swaminarayan temples in the area ‘are not Grukul centres, which is both a distinct community and ethos’ and would be prepared to enter into plans to manage any traffic and noise disturbance.
They added: “Based on the activity at the church, which has been set out in the objection letter, there is already a significant amount of noise and disturbance as a result of the church activities and other comments demonstrate that the church causes a significant number of the problems already being experienced. The proposed use can be conditioned to ensure that the site is suitably managed, so that it does not add to the issues the church is creating which cannot be managed by them.”
Whilst council officers agree that the other temples in the area ‘provide services for a different part of the Hindu Community’, they have recommended that the application be refused on the grounds of noise and traffic issues. They state the ‘excessive increase in frequency to the number of events’ and the additional number of attendees compared with the current use as a scout hut ‘would result in adverse noise and nuisance impacts for the surrounding occupiers’.
They added: “The proposed development would have insufficient access and parking arrangements, result in a significant increase in the number of trips to and from the site together with the poor configuration within the site and accessibility into the site for servicing and delivery purposes would give rise to potential conflicts between highway users and have an adverse impact on on-street parking pressures which would not ensure safe and efficient operation of the public highway.”
The application will be reviewed by Harrow Council’s Planning Committee next week (12 March) where a decision on whether to approve the plan will be made.
