Swindon Hindu temple denied capacity increase - ahead of Diwali

A Hindu temple in Swindon has been denied permission to extend its opening hours and capacity- ahead of Diwali.

Swindon Borough Council offered the space at Wyvern House to the Hindu community, after their former place of worship was repeatedly targeted by thieves and vandals, in incidents police treated as a 'hate crime.'

The council has now rejected plans for more than 50 people to attend worship at one time - on the grounds of traffic safety concerns.

When the space was approved in 2022, it was only allowed to operate between 9.30am to 4pm and 6.30pm to 11pm and capacity was capped.

Issues raised were the impact on roads in a busy central area of town, and problems with parking.

The Hindu Samaj asked for those restrictions to be dropped, saying most of its visitors come by foot or bus. It added that two weekend events per month could attract 150 to 160 people.

The council’s highways officer, who said the organisation had not provided enough information about the potential impact of larger events, said: "The concern remains that an unrestricted permission may adversely impact on peak-time traffic and local parking as a consequence of removing both of these restrictive conditions.

"The data presented in the transport note is not time-referenced to describe highway peak-time impact, and nor is there any context data to local highway network traffic flows at those times, both of which are critical considerations for full removal of these conditions.

Refusing permission the council’s planners said: "The assessment provided in the submitted, transport note is inadequate/insufficient and therefore the authority is unable to determine if the development is appropriate without detriment to highway safety."