Council leader assures Peterborough's Hindu community it will not be without a home ahead of court hearing into sale
The Hindu community in Peterborough has been assured it will not be left without a home ahead of a court hearing into council moves to sell its centre of worship.
The guarantee comes from the leader of Peterborough City Council a day before the resumption of a judicial review into the local authority‘s decision last year to sell the New England Complex in Lincoln Road, Millfield.
The two day review will take place in the High Court in London and has been brought by members of the Bharat Hindu Samaj Hindu, which has used the centre as a place of worship and community gathering for 40 years.
The building on Rock Road serves an estimated 13,500 Hindus from across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
Councillor Shabina Qayyum, the council leader, said: “We have a duty of care towards the Hindu community in Peterborough, as we do all of our communities, and that is why I can assure members of our Hindu community that they will not be left without a home.
She said: “We recognise and appreciate the two days scheduled at the High Court this week will be of concern and anxiety to community members.
"We will await to learn the written conclusions and judgement of the Judge following the Judicial Review hearing, should this be permitted to proceed.
"Until then it would not be appropriate to comment on the case itself.
Cllr Qayyum added: “We also recognise, and are sympathetic, that the sale of the New England Complex has been a great source of anxiety and upset for the Hindu community.
"Regardless of the outcome of this week’s hearing and in the meantime, we must focus our efforts on continuing to work collaboratively with residents to find a positive way forward."
The judicial review application began in February and Mr Justice Fordham ordered that for the time being the council could not take any further action in its bid to sell the New England Complex and then at a second hearing ordered that the local authority and the Bharat Hindu Samaj Hindu should prepare all necessary paperwork and disclose all documents ahead of a ‘rolled up’ hearing that starts tomorrow.
The ’rolled up’ hearing will first decide if there should be a judicial review of the council’s sale decision and, if so, that review will take place immediately afterwards.
Timeline to council’s decision to sell the New England Complex:
Members of the council’s ruling cabinet first agreed on December 16 last year to sell the New England Complex to the highest bidder in a bid to reduce its debts and balance its books through a disposal of some assets.
However that decision was ‘called in’ on Christmas Eve last year by three councillors, Councillor Roger Antunes, Cllr Ann Shaheed and Cllr Asif Shaheed.
They wanted the cabinet to take a second look at its decision to sell the centre to an external buyer even though there was a £1.2 million offer from the current users, Bharat Hindu Samaj.
And after a four-hour-long extraordinary meeting of the council's Sustainable Future City Council Scrutiny Committee, members agreed to demand a second look at the sale proposals complaining that social value of the centre had not been taken into account.
However, councillors at the new meeting of the cabinet decided to go ahead and approve the sale of the New England Complex. They also agreed the council would try and find alternative premises within the next six months.