Meeting called to discuss complaints against Highgate temple

Residents in Wembury Road have reporting noise nuisances and piles of rubbish dumped by Highgate Hill Murugan Temple, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Rubbish outside Highgate Hill Murugan Temple (credit Alex Pollak)

Highgate residents are calling on a temple to reduce the noise and rubbish generated during festivals.

Residents in Wembury Road have been reporting noise nuisances against Highgate Hill Murugan Temple.

In response Haringey Council will be hosting a meeting between residents, councillors and temple trustees to discuss the issues.

Resident Alex Pollak said he was “surprised” by the issues since he moved to the street almost two years ago.

Alex said: “They should do the festivals, enjoy them, I’m supportive of that, but what has frustrated us and it’s true for other residents on the road, they’ve had these festivals but they don’t really respect the people that live on the street.

“Some of the festivals have been disruptive, really noisy, going late into the night and it’s not even the noise, it’s also the rubbish left on the street.”

The temple holds around twelve festival-style events yearly, according to Alex, with most happening in summer and autumn. Some last up to five or six days and residents had complained about hearing the celebrations past midnight and on one recent occasion at 5am.

“We tried to bring this up with the council,” Alex said. “I actually put some of the blame of this with the council, less so with the temple. We’ve raised this with the council a number of times and put in noise complaints.”

However, Alex said the council didn’t “do anything”. He said when he spoke to the council’s noise team he learned the council had “come out” to investigate “on one occasion” but the noise hadn’t breached noise limits.

Alex believed the council hadn’t come out when the noise was at its loudest, describing the noise as “drumming, horns, it’s a full on festival”.

He also said he’d spoken to the temple “a few times” but there was no change and now residents are considering taking legal action.

Fly-tipping is also an issue after festivities, with “boxes of food” seen “lying around”.

A council spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the concerns raised about noise and fly-tipping at Murugan Temple and are actively engaging with residents and the local community to find solutions.

“Later this month, we will meet with residents, [Highgate ward councillor and Liberal Democrat] Scott Emery, the temple trustees, and council officers to listen to their views and work together towards resolving these issues.

“We have also proactively deployed additional crews to clear dumped waste and issued enforcement notices for fly‑tipping where evidence has been identified, increased monitoring, as well as a range of other measures.

“We encourage all residents to support us in tackling waste dumping across the borough. If anyone has information that could assist in identifying those responsible, please email our enforcement team in confidence. Reports will be logged, allocated to an officer, and investigated with feedback provided.”

Highgate Hill Murugan Temple was approached for comment.

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