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Hindu temple to be demolished and rebuilt

Grant WilliamsLocal Democracy Reporting Service
News imageGoogle A narrow residential alleyway in an urban neighbourhood, viewed from the street. In the foreground, a red hatchback car is parked beside a small white garage with a closed metal roller door. A bin is on the right side of the alley near a wooden fence and a white semi-detached house with a tiled roof. A dark-coloured car is parked in a driveway to the right. Further along the alley, additional bins and low-rise buildings are visible, with a taller modern apartment block and a construction crane rising in the background against a clear blue sky. The scene is lit by bright sunlight, casting sharp shadows along the ground and walls.Google
The temple is tucked down a lane behind some residential buildings

Plans to knock down a Hindu temple in north London and replace it with a new one have been approved.

Harrow Council backed proposals to demolish the Shri Sithi Vinayagar Thevasthanam Temple on Nibthwaite Road in Marlborough and build a "modern, high-quality purpose-built" temple in its place.

However, the council's drainage consent team warned a watercourse beneath the site was "on the brink of collapse" and could cause "serious flooding" if not fixed. Work on the new temple cannot start until 40m (131ft) of piping is replaced.

The existing building, originally a warehouse, can be demolished during those works. The council will then reassess if the new temple can be built over the watercourse.

Officers recommended approval, but said this was largely because a temple already operated on the site, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The new building would be 9.4m (30.8ft), making it "substantially taller" than the current one.

It sits at the end of a service road behind residential gardens, which Labour councillor Mike Williams called "not an obvious location for a temple".

He said he was "surprised" there had not been more objections, adding: "If I was living close to it, I'd be worried about the hours of worship and the comings and goings. The scale and ambition of this new development is somewhat larger."

Officers said assessments found the building "wouldn't adversely impact in terms of light and outlook" and that capacity "remains unchanged", with a 150-person limit now enforceable.

Conservative councillor Anjana Patel welcomed the development.

She said: "This is a really good proposal by the applicant because the buildings were quite old and by putting up the new building it will be more secure with the place and it will be even safer for the devotees as well."

The committee approved the application unanimously.

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