I have just seen on the planning information page of the borough council that this application has been refused for no less than 13 reasons not the least a rather blunt note from the Fire Service about lack of access for emergency vehicle access and no additional fire hydrants.

Reasons vary from no bat survey to inadequate parking both on site and dangerous on the wokingham road.

   Handsome Hank- Since youre so interested I take my fathers surname, but mainly follow my mothers religion, although I cant claim to be enormously devout. Think your embarrasing yourself a bit here mate, lets just stick to the objective issues of parking, location etc

   Handsome Hank: Thank you for your comments. I can assure you sir that I am not "Asif Ganesh" - a name I might add that is a mix of Muslim and Hindu. I neither wear a pug (turban for our non Sikh friends), sport a dari (beard) but do wear a Kara. I hope this puts your mind at rest.

   RSingh you sound like you might be the same non sikh who took on the name Asif Ganesh, or I may be wrong and you might in fact be a siklh. A question if I may, do you have a pug?

   Asif Ganesh??? I think you're having people on, neither your forename or surname are sikh. First name is muslim and the surname Ganesh is from my knowledge never attributed as a surname but rather a first name and if it is its a hindu name anyway, not Sikh.

   As an individual I support this application. I am surprised that not all Sikhs support this; either some sections of the sikh community are being mischievous re this development or some of the so called Sikh’s are in fact others in incognito.

I agree there will be an intermittent parking issue and the local residents view on this should be heard and taken into consideration. If that circle can be squared I would have no objection to the Sikh community having a Gurdwara

   ****I'm a Sikh and am embarrassed by this application.****

This religious project will attract followers from the surrounding towns, namely Slough, Maidenhead and possibly West London with all the potential for the makings of another traffic bottleneck in the area.

Lets think about the residents for a moment and place ourselves in their shoes; imagine what weekends will be like for them before you accuse me of being a "not in my back yard" paid up member.

PARKING - Lets face it, as a resident driving home you'll be concerned as to where you'll be able to park. Nightmare especially coming back the a car full of shopping and / or kids. Ahh, but there'll by Parking Permits you say, guaranteeing the spaces for residents. OK that's fine but who's going to enforce the rights of the permit holders? Does the planning application make provision for this? Who will pay for the traffic wardens? Anyone thought about where the plethora of coaches and mini buses will be parked that us Sikhs love to turn up in for weddings?

NOISE - Say hello to busy Saturdays and Sundays for ever.

HOUSE PRICES - They will drop in this area for the above reasons. No family with children, the elderly or infirm will be happy about the levels of traffic. In fact, no-on with a dog or even a cat will be happy. They

COMMUNITY COHESION - I've heard this banded about by supporters of this project and it's frankly laughable. What cohesion will this building promote? Look at the reasons above and tell me they'll be cohesion, especially from non-Sikhs.

I feel fortunate that I don't live anywhere near this 'building' which coincidently would look fantastic if this year was 1982.

The interesting side point is that most Sikhs I know and socialise with are against the application also. For all the non-Sikhs reading these comments, this proposal is not universally supported within the community.

My wish is that the council turn down this application - residents have enough pressures on them without the need of a religious pressure that will blight the area.

To the Sikh sponsors of this project: Do yourselves a favour and win favour from the community, including a lot of Sikh worshippers who are also against this project. Build out of town.

   Valid point GuyG - the Triangle would be virtually empty on weekends - the peak time for any Gurdwara.

   Indeed Asif is correct from my point of view the location is completely wrong for a temple of this size, indeed a temple of any size would cause problems on the Wokingham Road.

I do not understand why it is not put up in Winnersh Triangle instead, which has good transport links and plenty of parking.

   Asif - why's it absurd? What's wrong with it? make a point, sir! The only absurd thing I've seen here is someone confusing a Muslim Mosque with Sikh temple.

   Good point Asif! People are avoiding the elephant in the room. Without adequate parking provision this is an inappropriate application. As uneducated as some people may be about Sikh people and their wonderful culture, I do believe that folk around here adopt a easy going and "live and let live" attitude - but I can't see this helping. If we can find land to build unwanted houses/rabbit hutches on in their 100's if not 1,000's - surely we can get a bit more creative and keep everyone happy on this one?

   Everyones avoiding the elephant in the room with this, but clearly this is an absurdly inappropriate application, and would only be approved in order to appear politically correct. And im saying that as a Sikh myself.

   Does anyone know how many parking spaces will be on-site if the proposal goes ahead?That's key, isn't it; if the site is expected to be used by 350 people at peak, then they need to allow for 100(?) car parking spaces if it isn't going to impact on the local streets. If there are not enough/no new spaces to be provided on site, then the fears are legitimate and the impact would have to be considered. Even then, it doesn't necessarily mean it shouldn't happen...

   Hopeful Hoops - I don't think traffic congestion is the biggest issue, I think it is the volume of additional cars that is expected. They can't possibly accomodate all cars on site, so the overflow car park will be local residential roads. With special events, weddings etc.. it is likely that it will be more than one day a week that the 'overflow parking' is required and if I was a local resident this would be a genuine concern. Can any of us honestly say that we would not be bothered if a load of cars kept on coming and parking outside our houses?

I have called people NIMBYs on these forums before, but I think each development needs to be considered individually and building a temple on the site of two houses in the middle of a residential area just doesn't sound right or fair to the existing community.

   I fail to see why this shouldn't be built! The old site is un-fit for current needs and compared to some proposed designs for various buildings put up here, this is actually a nice looking one!

I hope the NIMBYs don't get their way as the "controversial" traffic congestion is laughable, especially for only one day of the week. You'd probably get more for a chippy!