New revised plans submitted to turn Burnham pub into Hindu learning centre

Revised plans have been submitted to turn a longstanding Burnham pub into a Hindu cultural hub after a previous bid attracted some controversy earlier this year.

The 19th-century Jolly Woodman was purchased by Slough-based charity, GB Shri Raghavendra Swami Brundavan, who submitted plans to convert the building into a place of worship in January.

More than 100 letters of support were received as were more than 200 objections due to traffic concerns and potential environmental impact, and the application was subsequently withdrawn in May.

Now a new proposal, submitted to the Buckinghamshire Council planning portal on Monday, June 17 intends to turn the Littleworth Road establishment into a ‘religious learning centre for teaching’ and meditation.

In the planning statement, the applicant said: “The proposal is for change of use of the existing building to provide a religious learning centre for devotees of a particular Hindu saint, Shri Raghavendra Swami.”

The applicant added ‘in hindsight’ the previous application ‘lacked detail’ on the specific nature of the proposed activities, and the application will now only involve ‘minor internal works’.

No demolition works and extension, as previously put forward, are in the revised plans so the existing floor area will remain unchanged.

The religious learning centre would occupy the existing ground floor area and the first floor flat retained for staff occupation.

The planning statement added: “The property does not have any on-site parking spaces. Visitors to the public house have historically used the informal parking area to Littleworth Common adjacent to the south.

“This parking area is also used by walkers, visitors to the church and parents of children at the schools. The proposals will also include the provision of 10 secure cycle parking spaces.”

The applicant said the numbers attending the proposed centre are ‘likely to be less than associated with the former pub restaurant use’ and the building layout ‘inherently limits’ attendees particularly in relation to prayers.

A submitted schedule of expected day-to-day activities showed the average number of weekday attendees is between 3 and 8 which might increase to 10 in the evenings.

On Saturday evenings, this could increase to 25 to 30 persons for prayers but between 10 and 15 persons on Sunday evenings.

The applicant said the proposed ground floor plan shows ‘there is no single area physically large enough to accommodate bigger gatherings’ and the ‘schedule of activities confirms that all rituals and ceremonies would be conducted inside the premises’.

Buckinghamshire Highways’ previously said the public house restaurant had the potential to generate 206 vehicle trips per day.

The applicant said, by comparison, the place of worship category could generate 126 vehicle trips per day – a 39 per cent reduction in vehicle activity.

This is because the charity is dedicated only to one specific saint, a subset of the Hindu faith with a small number of followers, which consequently results in low traffic.

The applicant further explains that the Hindu faith does not include ‘prescriptive times and events’ at which devotees must attend for prayers but rather is personally based with individuals determining when they should attend.

Visit the Buckinghamshire Council planning portal to view the planning application PL/24/1860/FA.