HINDUS are celebrating after Crawley councillors granted permission to continue building work on a new Hindu temple on Monday (January 5).
Part of the conditions laid out by Crawley council was to ensure that car parking and flooding precautions were addressed. Ted Beresford-Knox, head of planning, said councillors were satisfied with the measures now being taken and that the issue of flooding is to be dealt with on a ‘much wider basis’.
The approval comes just weeks after the banks of the River Mole in the Ilfield area bust on December 13 prompting West Sussex County Council leader Henry Smith to call for an urgent drainage and flood risk assessment.
The Gurjar Hindu Union (GHU), who will run the temple has invested £4m into the construction of the Sanatan temple, which is slated to be opened in August this year.
Bharat Lukka, Gurjar Hindu Union spokesman said: "It feels so great that justice in Crawley has prevailed. There were absolutely no grounds for refusal. Safety is the GHU’s first priority and we want to live in peace and harmony with the residents".
By Ashwin Mehra