CAMBRIDGE, CANADA, January 18, 2018 (The Record): It has a hectare of empty land, purchased 18 years ago. It has 400 families worth of supporters from across Waterloo Region and Guelph. Now, the Cambridge Hindu Society would like to construct a new temple off the southern tip of the Toyota plant and move out of old digs it has outgrown in the village of Blair. “We are just eager to build,” society president Dwarka Persaud said. But there’s one other thing the project also has — a long list of opponents. Toyota is citing city planning policies and provincial rules discouraging new “sensitive land uses” right up against the rumbling belly of major industry, without 300 metres (985 ft) of separation.
Also opposing the proposed location are about 137 well-organized residents from 37 homes in the immediate area of the proposed temple site, including all of Royal Oak Road, which would face the temple, all of Cherry Blossom Road and piece of Speedsville Road. A Buddhist monastery on Royal Oak did not sign their petition. But almost all other residents did. It’s up to Cambridge city council to sort it all out and decide — after staff assesses the matter and make a recommendation — whether to grant a zoning amendment to permit the temple to rise on land tagged for agriculture or aggregate extraction.