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Rokesby Place ‘planning malpractice’ – Brent’s “final response”

  Two details from Brent’s Rokesby Place planning application

 

Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity 

 

When my guest blog about Brent trying to justify its planning malpractice over the rent level for the new houses at Rokesby Place was published last month, I said that I would share the reply I received from Brent’s Chief Executive with you. I’ll ask Martin to attach the letter of 19 October from Carolyn Downs at the end of this article, so that anyone who wishes to can read it.

 

In comments under that September blog, I said:

 

‘We do need to be able to trust the Senior Officers who conduct the Council's business, both in what they tell us as citizens and what they tell Cabinet members and councillors in order to persuade them to approve the decisions they recommend.’    and that:

 

‘… the response to my letter of 22 September will be a test of the Leadership at Brent Council. Leadership sets the example, and is one of the Principles of Conduct in Public Life.’

 

If you care to read the Chief Executive’s letter, and those which preceded it in the earlier blog(s), you can judge for yourself how well they are doing.

 

Another of the Principles of Conduct in Public Life is Honesty. In her first letter, of 16 September, in response to my complaint, Ms Downs (or the Senior Planning Officer who drafted it for her) justified the Planning Case Officer contacting Brent’s Project Manager for the Rokesby Place scheme, rather than the Planning Agent who had submitted the application, by saying that this was because the Project Manager was “the applicant”.

 

In the letter of 19 October (drafted by Brent’s Complaints Manager?), the story has changed:

 

I might have accepted that as true, if I had not checked the information on Brent’s planning website after receiving the first letter. For the Rokesby Place application, this shows:

 

 

I’m aware, from correspondence on another matter, that Ms Hislop is employed by Brent as a Project Manager.  I’ve drawn this discrepancy to the attention of Ms Downs, but have not yet received her answer to it. [It’s also interesting, and perhaps concerning, to note that the Planning Case Officer and the Agent handling the planning application for Rokesby Place, are the same as for the current Newland Court “infill” housing application, 22/3124 ].

 

Whatever the truth on that point, I still believe that no ‘clarification’ was needed, as the application clearly stated that the tenure would be Social Rent. 

 

A Planning Officer seeking, and receiving, that ‘clarification’ from a Council employee involved in the project, seems a clear breach of the ‘impartiality’ required by the Local Government Association’s “Probity in Planning” guidance. This says: ‘Proposals for a Council’s own development should be treated with the same transparency and impartiality as those of private developers.’ My original open letter to Ms Downs on 5 September explained that.

 

The ’transparency’ test would surely have required Planning Officers to disclose in their Report to Planning Committee that the application they were bring asked to decide had been for Social Rent, that Officers had changed this to London Affordable Rent (“LAR”) in their draft acceptance letter, and the reasons why that change had been made. They did none of those things, and even after Cllr. Sheth had revealed at the meeting itself that the application had been for Social Rent, they did not acknowledge that fact, or respond to what he had told the meeting.

 

Ms Downs’s letter does finally acknowledge this point, but in a very weak way!

 

 

The letter does not admit that there was a breach of the “Probity in Planning” guidance by Planning Officers, which should lead to the “wrong” done being put right. In fact, in another paragraph, it appears that the Council are now trying to put the blame for the rent of the two homes being LAR, rather than Social Rent, onto the Planning Committee councillors, not the Planning Officers.

 

 

The letter also maintains that LAR was the correct rent for the two homes, even though the application clearly stated that the tenure would be Social Rent. 

 

 

Quite frankly, the highlighted sentence is stretching the truth past breaking point! Within ten minutes of receiving the agent’s email (just two hours before the Planning Committee meeting), the Planning Case Officer had pointed out that the agent’s claim ‘we have always proposed that the units are 100% London Affordable Rent’ was untrue! It was that statement which was ‘an error’, not the planning application form.

 

 

Although the question of viability was not mentioned in the planning application, or the Officer Report, or at the meeting itself, it has now been raised as a reason why the rent on the two Rokesby Place houses should be LAR. This is picking up on a subject which has cropped up a lot over recent weeks (see, for example, Brent’s Affordable Council Housing – the promises and the reality , and Many pressures on Brent housing put projects at risk ).

 

 

At the risk of repeating myself, although Rokesby Place may have been ‘classified’ as LAR on Brent’s property “master tracker”, the planning application (which is what Planning Committee were considering) stated that the tenure would be Social Rent.

 

Social Rent and LAR are both described as “genuinely affordable”, and the Planning Officer at the meeting described them as ‘very, very similar’. But the latest letter from Ms Downs does not address the point I made in my open letter to her of 22 September:

 

‘these affordable homes will be ‘for those whose needs are not met by the market.’ They will be Brent families in housing need, quite probably on limited incomes. By charging them LAR rent levels, rather than Social Rent, even on present figures, they will have to pay £772.20 a year more.’

 

That extra £772.20 a year is on 2022/23 figures, with the difference increasing each year. It may not seem a huge amount to Senior Officers at the Council (according to Brent’s accounts for 2021/22, the Chief Executive’s salary was £208,459). But to the parent of a large family, moving to a house built to ‘fulfil the needs of households on low incomes’, the change from Social Rent to LAR might mean that their dream of a decent home is no longer affordable.

 

I’ve recently discovered that Brent no longer appears to have any specific procedures to ensure that Planning Officers treat applications by the Council ‘with the same transparency and impartiality as those of private developers.’ I was assured by Brent’s then top legal officer in 2013 that very strict procedures were in place – either she was not telling the truth, or those procedures have been ditched by Senior Officers somewhere along the way. The letter from Ms Downs only offers a small concession to improve matters:

 

 

Although the letter says: ‘This is our final position’, I’m not satisfied that the points I complained about, or the suggested remedies I offered, have been properly resolved. I could refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman, but that would mean a long delay. I believe that Brent Council needs to take urgent action to clear up this case, and to provide reassurance that other Council planning applications, such as those on “infill” housing projects, will be dealt with fairly by Planning Officers.

 

I’ve taken the initiative, and sent a Statement of Facts about how the Rokesby Place housing tenure point was handled to the Local Government Association’s Planning Advisory Service (which published the 2019 “Probity in Planning” guidelines), asking them to give an independent opinion. [I did, of course, send a copy to Ms Downs, because I believe in transparency!] They’ve replied to say that they may give some advice to the Council on its procedures, but that: ‘we in PAS can’t investigate or provide opinions on applications or processes for members of the public.’

 

I’ve asked: ‘Could the LGA's Planning Advisory Service provide an independent opinion of this case if both a member of the public and the local authority requested them to do so?’ Let’s see if Brent will agree to that!

 

Philip Grant.

 

 

Fryent Country Park ponds still badly affected by drought despite the recent rain

 

 

Affinity Water supplies water to parts of the north of Brent. They warned a few weeks ago that to avoid a hose pipe ban there would need to be above average rainfall over the Autumn and Winter to make up for the impact of the summer drought. If rainfall continued below average, they would need to introduce a hose pipe ban in 2023.

Following the recent heavy rainfall some people have suggested reservoirs would soon be back to normal levels. Yesterday I walked through Fryent Country Park to see how the many ponds were affected by the rain. giving an indication of what might be happening to reservoir levels.

Some were still completely dry and covered in vegetation.  Barn Hill pond on top of Barn Hill had recovered somewhat but still well below normal levels. It has a different geological base from the other ponds and there's some mystery about how it fills with suggestions of springs in the area.

The other ponds have a clay lining. Clay used to be 'puddled', beaten down to remove all the air, making a waterproof surface that retained water in the pond. Tools might be used to beat down the clay but in the past cattle would be driven through to compact the clay and in modern times when ponds are constructed  in schools pupils in wellies do the job! 

In a drought the clay is exposed to the air and the sun's heat and will crack, leading to the loss of water when the pond refills. Cracks can be seen in the dried-out pond in the photograph above. Loss of ponds in the Country Park will impact on the survival of already threatened frogs, toads and newts as well as other pond life such as dragonflies and damsel flies that give much pleasure to visitors.

Maintenance work has been done on some of the ponds and may explain the differences in water retention. Below are some of the ponds I checked yesterday, beginning with Barn Hill pond. 

 

Health and Wellbeing Fun Day for Young People at Ark Elvin, Wembley, Thursday October 27th 12-6pm

 

Half-Term Nature Activities at Welsh Harp

Apologies I got this information too late for today's activities but here areThursday and Friday:

 

Smartphone Safari

Thursday 27th, 10.30am – 12.00pm & 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Learn how to use your smartphone camera like a pro using simple and fun methods by Jet Black Squares. Bring your smart phone and get ready to explore the Education Centre woods! Ages 8+

 

Nature Fun in the Wild

Friday 28th, 10.30am – 12.00pm & 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Join us for pond dipping and mini-beast hunting in the wilds of the pond and woods at the Education Centre! Ages 5-12.

 

Booking is essential, please contact us on:

Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre

Birchen Grove, NW9 8RY. Follow the signs towards the Garden Centre.

Phone: 07711 701 694

Email: welshharpcentre@thames21.org.uk

 

Further info:

• An adult must attend & supervise children throughout activities.
• Places are limited and booking is essential, please contact us to book and also let us know if you need to cancel your booking.
• Children and adults should wear comfortable outdoor clothing that may get dirty if you wish to come for a walk in the woods.

FURTHER UPDATE - Pressure may be low. Affinity Water update on the Mall water main burst

From Affinity Water

 

So we can get your water flowing again, we’re redirecting water across our network from other areas. This may be at a lower pressure whilst our repairs are ongoing.

What we’re doing

Our repair team are working hard to repair the burst water main on The Mall. Once we know how long this will take, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

We’re really sorry about this and thank you for your patience.

We updated this message at 15:00 and we'll update it again after 19:00

 

What we’re doing

Our repair team had to extend the excavation to continue repairs. Once we know how long this will take, we’ll let you know as soon as possible. All customers should have normal water supply. 

We’re really sorry about this and thank you for your patience.

We updated this message at 10:40 and we'll update it again after 14:40

What's happened so far

(08:25 - 26th October) Repair team are on site and are continuing to repair the burst water main.

(00:00 - 26th October) Our team have isolated the damaged section of water main, this means all customers should now have a water supply. The team will continue to repair the damaged pipe.

(22:40 - 25th October) Technician on route to investigate.

'Challenging and disruptive' 18 day works following a gas leak at Brent Cross begin tomorrow

 

Cadent Gas works on the A406 North Circular Road opposite Brent Cross Shopping Centre  are due to commence on Thursday 27^th October with works starting in the early hours. The closure involved is on the border of Brent so will affect residents.

 

Cadent recently identified a leak on one of their gas pipes on the North Circular, opposite Brent Cross Shopping Centre, just west of the Brent Cross Flyover. The leak was temporarily made safe  but there is now need to permanently repair the leaking pipe. To do this, they will need to reduce traffic to one lane in both directions. 

 

Brent councillors have been told that given the location and the significant traffic volumes, the works will be challenging and disruptive, something Cadent are fully aware of and are now actively preparing for.

 

Cadent predict the works will last approximately 18 days, and to ensure the disruption ends as swiftly as possible, their frontline teams will be working extended hours, 7 days a week.  

 

Water supply restored to HA9 and NW9

 Affinity Water was able to restore the water supply to a wide area of Kingsbury and Wembley after a burst main at The Mall.  

Use this LINK to register for updates and alerts.

This was the midnight message from Affinity:

Your water will be back on by 01:00

We’re really sorry for the problems with your water today. We’ve isolated the damaged section of water main and you’ll see your water flowing back to normal soon.

Our repair team will begin to carry out repairs overnight, however we expect no impact to customer whilst this takes place.

Appearance of your water

If your water is discoloured or cloudy, don’t worry this is normal. We know it doesn’t look nice, but it’s not harmful and you can help by running your cold tap until it’s clear. To find out more, please click here.

We added this message at 00:00 and we'll update it again after 08:00 on Wednesday 26th October 2022