Work under way to resolve dispute over future of a Hindu centre of worship in Peterborough

Peterborough City Council, the Bharat Hindu Samaj and interested parties, the Masjid Khadijah and the Islamic Centre of Khadijah Mosque, of Cromwell Road, Peterborough, have been instructed to properly prepare their papers for a new court hearing in May or June.

The instructions were laid down by Mr Justice Fordham on March 9 after the Bharat Hindu Samaj had brought an application for a judicial review of the council’s decision to sell the New England Complex in Lincoln Road, Millfield, which has been a centre for Hindu worship and community use for 40 years.

As well as extending a High Court order made on March 6 that temporarily stops the council from taking any further action in its bid to sell the New England Complex, all parties have been told to prepare for a ‘rolled up’ hearing that will decide if there should be a judicial review of the council’s sale decision and, if so, then that hearing will take place immediately.

Councillors had agreed last month that the centre should be sold to the highest bidder in order to help ease the local authority’s budget woes.

The council has received what it says is an acceptable bid for the centre but has not yet disclosed the successful bidder.

But the Bharat Hindu Samaj claims its bid of £1.3 million was not properly considered and fears it could be left without a meeting place after the centre is sold.

Councillor Mohammed Jamil, Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Governance, said: "We are aware there is much public interest in this matter.

"To be clear, both parties have been given directions to prepare for the next hearing in May/June.

"We continue to engage with the legal process and will be complying with the Court's directions regarding preparation.

"We look forward to the opportunity to resolve this matter with the Court's assistance in due course."

A spokesperson for the Bharat Hindu Samaj Hindu said: “We are elated at the decision.

"It is a vindication of what we are doing.

He said: “The council should have provided all the information about its decision in the first place and we could have avoided much of this legal action and the associated costs.”

The Masjid Khadijah and the Islamic Centre of Khadijah Mosque have been approached for a response.

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.

The building on Rock Road has been home to the Bharat Hindu Samaj Mandir for 40 years and serves an estimated 13,500 Hindus from across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

A gofund.me page has already raised more than £109,253 which campaigners say will be a ‘war chest’ to fund any further legal action.

And a petition set up to demand the sale of the centre be halted has attracted 19,247 signatures.