A Local Assembly Member has welcomed Harrow Council’s Planning Committee’s decision to approve plans for a new Synagogue on Stanmore Hill. On Wednesday, 22nd January, Navin Shah attended the Committee’s meeting to support the scheme, which he argues, “will help to promote and sustain Harrow’s interfaith values”.
Shah had recently written to the Chair of the Planning Committee backing the Mosaic Reform Synagogue’s proposals to relocate from its current site in West Harrow to Stanmore Hill. The scheme, which will see the redevelopment of an old petrol station, will include 20 car parking spaces and nine new residential units. Mr Shah argued that the new site will be more accessible for worshippers and will appeal to the wider local Jewish community. He said,
“As a former resident of West Harrow, I know the Mosaic group very well and have had the privilege of working closely with the Rabbi Kathleen Middleton and trustees of the organisation on a range of issues, including multifaith work in the community. I am delighted that Mosaic Synagogue will now have a new home in Stanmore in the midst of the Jewish community where it belongs.
“This new site will bring together three existing synagogues, from different dominations to create a pluralist space for worshippers and will help to promote and sustain Harrow’s interfaith values.”
