We know Matt Kelcher as the three-term councillor for Harlesden and Kensal Green, and latterly as the chair of Brent Planning Committee, with his introductory homily on the importance of meeting the borough’s house building target and the current housing emergency.
He has another life, in the small print of the Council’s Register of Interests but not declared this at Planning Committee meetings. Kelcher is the Director of Public Affairs at TheCityUK, described by Reuters as ‘Britain’s most powerful financial lobby group’. His work, as a member of Chartered Institute of Public Relations, is to advocate for members of TheCityUK.
Matt Kelcher is also a Brent councillor on the multi-million Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation where his connection with TheCityUK is also declared LINK.
Where does this overlap with his councillor role?
A clue lies in one of his more recent articles for TheCityUK blog. ‘Reforming the UK’s planning system: a path to growth’. Locals who have spoken against planning applications at Planning Committee may have picked up a polite lack of sympathy for their presentations and the extracts from his article below makes clear that he sees the need for a more robust assumption of assent for applications:
A lack of consistency between (and within) local planning authorities is creating uncertainty and unpredictability in decision-making. One way to maximize the value added by England's new metro mayor model would be to explore allowing mayors to designate zones with a much greater presumption of planning approval. The UK's current planning regime of application and appeal is an international outlier, and its delivery has presented challenges to the building of homes and infrastructure.
To make the UK more attractive to investors and facilitate investment decisions, the planning process needs to prioritize efficiency and timely decisions. One mechanism to achieve this would be to streamline the statutory consultation process, with a greater assumption of assent from consultees who do not reply to local authorities within deadlines.
Cllr Kelcher is an ally of the former Shama Tatler (now Baroness Shah of Wembley) and active within the Labour Party in the drive for accelerating house building, which in Brent has resulted in unaffordable luxury high rise towers. He is a member of her Labour YIMBY group (Yes in My Backyard). The group was set up to oppose those who raise concerns about over-development, density, and lack of affordability in new developments – stereotyped as NIMBYs (Not in My Backyard). They rely on a ‘market model’ belief that increased supply will result in reductions in house prices and rents – not something we have seen in Brent where according to the London Renters Union rents have increased by 27% over the last 3 years despite all the new units built.
‘Proudly NIMBY Proudly Labour’
Tribune magazine in an August 2025 article LINK wrote:
One of the core principles of YIMBYism is ensuring easier access to property ownership and wealth accumulation. Yet, bizarrely, advocates refer to themselves as ‘housing activists’ and think of themselves as ‘campaigners’ embedded in a ‘pro-housing’ movement. They might choose to adopt the language of those on the front line of the housing emergency. But in reality, their natural habitat is the boardroom — and buffet lunches with developers.
Tongue in cheek they suggest that alongside NIMBY and YIMBY, there should be PHIMBY – Public Housing in My Backyard.
If a Brent planning application had been made by any of his TheCityUK employer’s clients, Kelcher would have had to declare his interest. ‘Pre-determination’ is a slippery term in planning circles and refers to a member of a planning committee having made up their mind in advance of hearing an application. I have no evidence that this applies to Matt Kelcher’s many specific decisions at Planning Committee, but his pre-disposition to approve applications in more general terms is, perhaps, clear.
Matt Kelcher’s record: Source Open Council Network
Published and promoted by Jmes Paton on behalf of Brent Green Party c/o 23 Saltcroft Close, Wembley, HA9 JJ
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