Oldbury temple applies to to expand again
A Sikh temple in Oldbury has applied for permission to build a new extension just months after winning a controversial planning decision.
Gurdwara Guru Hargobind Sahib temple on Britannia Street wants to build a two-storey front extension with a large centre dome and five corner roof domes.
The new application was lodged with the council after it won a two-year battle to build a controversial community centre.
That decision was a bitter blow for objectors who had been fighting the development after a similar plan was rejected in 2018.
In June last year, residents pleaded with councillors to refuse the application saying said the proposal had only 89 parking places when council highway officers said 113 were needed.
Objectors claimed the lack of parking spaces would cause traffic to spill out onto surrounding roads creating gridlock at peak times.
Paramjit Sehdera, acting on behalf of Gurdwara, told the committee it had tried to find a plan acceptable to planning officers and residents and had limited the numbers using the centre to a maximum of 80.
Saying the temple had conducted its own traffic survey, he added the existing car park was used by parents when picking up and dropping off their children at a nearby school.
Councillors on Sandwell’s planning committee rejected the advice of their officers and approved the plan.
The temple has now lodged a new application outlining plans to build a two-storey front extension replacing the existing entrance on Britannia Street.
The Gurdwara opened nine years ago after converting an existing factory into a place of worship.
