Group appeals for site to create Oxford's first Hindu temple

Members of the Hindu community in Oxford have demanded help from its city council to find a permanent place of worship after a 13-year search.

The Oxford Hindu Temple and Community Centre Project (OHTCCP), said the city council has been aware of its need but has offered no solution.

Its chairman, Dr Gian Gopal, said the group will be forced to look outside the city if help is not forthcoming.

City councillor Shaista Aziz said the authority was working to help.

In an address to the city council on Monday, Dr Gopal, chairman of OHTCCP said 3,000 people in Oxford declared themselves to be Hindus in the 2011 census. But the city has no designated temple.

Dr Gopal said for the last 13 years councillors "have heard our appeals, attended our events and been honoured in their presence" but that Hindus had received "a lot of hot air" in return.

He said his group has offered to buy buildings including the Blackbird Leys Pavilion and changing rooms in Marsh Lane in Marston over the past two years but that the group has "nothing to show for those talks".

The address at the full council meeting came after the group marched through the city and handed in a petition signed by more than 2,700 people.

Ms Aziz said the authority is keen to resolve the situation and find a suitable site.

The city council's cabinet member for inclusive communities added part of the pavilion in Blackbird Leys is currently being used by another group and a vacant part is "in extremely poor condition".

The site in Marsh Lane "could be considered" for use in the future, she said.

It must be marketed in a "fair and transparent manner" for any other groups to declare interest but Ms Aziz said it "might be a potential home" for Hindu worship in the future.

The group currently hire a room at the Rose Hill Community Centre.

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