Plans to build a Hindu temple in Cambridge met with resistance
Posted Jan 19, 2018 01:26:29 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The president of the Cambridge Hindu Society does not understand public resistance to a proposed new temple they want to build, but he’s confident truth and love will win out.
Dwarka Persaud tells the Mike Farwell Show on 570NEWS, they own a 2.24 acre parcel of land between the 401 and the Toyota plant, which is where they want to build that temple.
Their current temple is in an historic church on Old Mill Road, in Blair, that they bought about 30 years ago, and it can no longer meet their growing needs.
He says while they’ve been at their current location, they’ve had a great relationship with their neighbours.
But Persaud says now the people who live around this other parcel of land are objecting to the proposed temple, which would be about 6,000 square feet — three times bigger than what they have now.
He says they’ve also been getting resistance from the Toyota plant.
Persaud says people who object to the size of the planned temple don’t understand the building itself would only be about 23 feet high — it would be the steeple-like structures that would be 40 to 50 feet high, and they’re willing to bring those down if neighbours object.
Persaud also says he has no idea why the City of Cambridge has that land zoned as agricultural, joking that perhaps only marijuana growers could make use such a small parcel of agricultural land.
He says his group bought the land in 2000 for the purpose of building a temple, but there were concerns from the public about a possible impact on their well water supply, and the area was being developed anyway, so they decided to hold off.
He says they met with City of Cambridge officials in early 2017 to go over a list of requirements for prepping the land for building a temple.
But it wasn’t until a neighbourhood meeting in November 2017 that they first heard of any serious objections.
But Persaud says he’s still hopeful, saying “we are the Ghandi people,” and being Hindu is all about believing love and truth will prevail, and they will overcome.
For now, he says it’s up to City of Cambridge staff to make a recommendation.
