MP to meet villagers over Sikh school plans (From Bucks Free Press)

Sikhs have contributed so much to our country over the decades and their integration into society whilst retaining their own culture is admirable.
The sacrifice of many generations of Sikh families for our country over hundreds of years of British wars should also be remembered . I hope these grievances are purely from a planning point of view and not born from ill informed xenophobic attitudes.

Manorman, I couldn't agree with you more.

If you would like to understand the reasons why we don't want 1000 pupils and staff arriving by car and bus in our village of fewer than 5000 residents, you might take a moment to read the relevant sections on the Parish Council's website. Or, you could look at the FB page 'We don't want a new school in Stoke Poges', which now has 1019 member, including local Sikhs, who are also against any school being sited in this inappropriate location. Manorman -Bringing the war into it seems as though you haven't understood the problem at all. My father fought in WW2 but I'm not setting up a "free" (paid for by us) school in a lovely quiet village nowhere near where I'm recruiting pupils.

@manorman. I'm getting heartily sick of the comments about racism and xenophobia. Pulling those cards is simply unacceptable We should, all of us, be able to protest without the unfounded accusation of race and religion being promoted. Read the protesters FB page and you'd realise that this group is about as multicultural as it could get. We shouldn't have to defend ourselves against ignorance. As it is we are dealing with a group (SSET) who have been thoroughly deceitful. They have lied, obfuscated, misinformed and ignored REAL locals. Their behaviour has been shameful.

manorman, I couldn't agree with you more.

But (yes there is a but) in all communities there are people who don't live up to the standards that normal people abide by. This is one of the reasons why faith schools are so damaging. They fail to prepare people to understand the wider world.

It is more than planning though. SSET say they have been ignored by SBC and that it is OK for them to ignore the wishes of 5,000 people of Stoke Poges. This is double standards and hypocrisy and moreover our Guru tells us to serve our community. It appears to me that they believe they have god given rights to things with nothing to support them. Some of them have referred to us as the mob, we an articulate intelligent well organised village defending ourselves from chaos.

As for the discrimination 14 out of 40 of the SBC councillors are Sikh and the majority are ethnic minorities. It says to me that the council do not agree with your need for this school, this has nothing to do with racism, a card that they play so well. Well all the Sikhs I know are opposed to this. This is a small group with an agenda looking to fill it from a wide area running roughshod over us.

They kept it from us, that is deceit. They have based your traffic consultation on false numbers, that is deceit. Deleting reasonable posts on their FB page, is deceit. Trying to build a case for a school in Slough and then presenting it as a need for SP, is deceit. Putting an ominous looking security team with a big alsation in front of the school on the open day and then telling people that the Dog was Pioneers doing was deceit, we all know it wasn’t. If the DfE want to be deceitful and keep this from the village, then as a true Sikh must turn them down. They should not be following a practice that is deceitful, as a Sikh you cannot do this.

My advice to them is to bow down gracefully. Tell people that they have listened to the community and that the site is not suitable after all. Get people behind them to stop SBC turning Arbour Vale into a football pitch and build their school.

STOP DESTROYING THE REPUTATION OF SIKHS.

manorman wrote:
Sikhs have contributed so much to our country over the decades and their integration into society whilst retaining their own culture is admirable.
The sacrifice of many generations of Sikh families for our country over hundreds of years of British wars should also be remembered . I hope these grievances are purely from a planning point of view and not born from ill informed xenophobic attitudes.

Short answer. No, it's not..
My Grandfather was in the cavalry and died fighting for this country, do I deserve to take credit for that, should I have special dispensation. No.
We have to earn that through our behaviours and actions, that is what defines us now.

DS SP wrote:
If you would like to understand the reasons why we don't want 1000 pupils and staff arriving by car and bus in our village of fewer than 5000 residents, you might take a moment to read the relevant sections on the Parish Council's website. Or, you could look at the FB page 'We don't want a new school in Stoke Poges', which now has 1019 member, including local Sikhs, who are also against any school being sited in this inappropriate location. Manorman -Bringing the war into it seems as though you haven't understood the problem at all. My father fought in WW2 but I'm not setting up a "free" (paid for by us) school in a lovely quiet village nowhere near where I'm recruiting pupils.

If a Ghurka , A Sikh , An Indian , A pacific Islander fights in the British army then they have a right to citizenship and the corresponding rights that come with this sacrifice. These rights should pass on to their family.
I wonder if there would be such an uproar if the pioneer site was turned into a Catholic, C+E, or Masonry School.
Was there this kind of uproar when The Teikyo School Opened less than 500m away ?
I cant remember anything in the papers about it. The Considerable amount of time ive spent researching this has opened my eyes
I wonder if some of the people complaining about this are quite new arrivals into Stoke Poges. I remember when the town didn't have that many airs and graces. Maybe its the new money influx that's suddenly made it more NIMBY. Beaconsfield has suffered this fate , maybe its spread a little south.

@Manorman. A DS SP says this is a very complex issue and is not 'simply ill informed xenophobic attitudes'.
This is firstly about the building of a school designed to cater for over 1000 students plus teachers, on Green Belt land, bordering a conservation zone that is likely to be hugely negatively impacted if this goes ahead.
The village is served by a couple of very narrow country roads that are unsuitable for the commuting of upto 1000 people a day, every day.
The site itself is on a road that has few pavements and has no street lighting, a massive concern in the winter months.
The Sikh community have indeed integrated into UK society and retained their own culture, and this is evidenced by most Sikh's within Stoke Poges objecting to this proposal.
Highly unlikely Sikh's can be accused of being xenophobic about Sikhs!
And whilst this school is a faith free school, requiring upto 50% non-Sikhs, the trustees have unfortunately chosen to engage none of the potential local feeder schools, instead choosing to approach schools in Hayes, Southall and other West London Boroughs. This has resulted in a proposed intake of 90% Sikh in the first year, a breach of free school guidelines, and a segretive approach by the trustees behind this proposal.
I think you would find the same level of objection to any school of this size in this location for exactly the same reasons. Incidentally, the Teikyo school has a student population of 68 according to the good schools guide, some of which are boarders. The proposed Khalsa school is advocating 15 times this number! A very different argument when discussing traffic issues!