Guest
blog, by Philip Grant in a personal capacity:
A
year ago, I wrote a guest blog
which urged readers to go and see three tile mural scenes at Olympic Way in
Wembley Park while they still had the opportunity. This also highlighted the
possibility, mentioned in an email I had received from Quintain, that the
“footballers” mural scene in the subway might still be covered up on occasions.
The “footballers” mural last week (on my way to get
first Covid-19 jab!)
I
raised that question in an email to Brent’s Chief Executive and Council Leader
on 16 February 2020, saying:
‘This "footballers" mural was meant to
have been put back on permanent public
display last autumn. The prospect of it being covered over with adverts again,
particularly when England are playing at Wembley Stadium during the UEFA 2020
tournament, should be unthinkable!
I hope that
Brent Council will do all within its power to ensure that the
"footballers" mural, which includes the plaque unveiled by Bobby
Moore's widow in September 1993, remains uncovered, particularly during
England's UEFA 2020 matches at the Stadium this summer.’
A
letter from Carolyn Downs on 2 March told me that 'the lease does
provide Wembley Park with the scope to cover the footballers mural with
advertisement dressing at certain points during the year, should a commercial
opportunity arise.' I responded by telling her that although the lease might
say that, the 2019 advertising consent did not allow the footballers mural to be
covered.
Ms Downs passed my reply to the Council’s Operational
Director (Regeneration, Growth and Employment) to deal with. I explained in
detail to this officer why the various planning and advertisement consent
decisions did not allow adverts over the footballers mural. Her response was
curt:
‘We have already set out our position on this. We disagree. I do not
therefore intend to continue this dialogue.’
By
that stage (23 March 2020) the country had just gone into its first Covid-19
pandemic “lockdown”. I decided not to raise a formal complaint, as Brent’s
Chief Executive had more important things to deal with. I put this issue “on
hold”, saying:
‘'I will not
pursue the point in this correspondence now, but may return to it once we are
through the current emergency.'
One
of the reasons why I have been campaigning, with fellow Wembley History Society
members and others, to get all of the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals put back
on permanent public display is this. They are a colourful celebration of
Wembley’s sporting and entertainment heritage, specially installed in 1993 as a
work of public art welcoming visitors to Wembley Park.
2023
will mark the centenary of Wembley Stadium, and the 75th anniversary
of the 1948 London Olympic Games, for which Olympic Way was constructed. What
better way to mark those milestones than to let residents and visitors enjoy those
murals again? After all, the Council had (finally!) recognised the importance
of ‘the heritage tiles at Wembley Park’s Bobby
Moore Bridge’ at the start of Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture 2020,
saying:
‘The tiles, which show scenes from famous sports and
entertainment events at Wembley Stadium and the SSE Arena, Wembley, are part of
Brent’s rich heritage and date back to September 1993 when they were originally
dedicated to the legendary footballer.’
Cllr. Butt, the Mayor and other
guests at the LBOC 2020 tile murals reveal, 18 January 2020.
[Photo by Francis Waddington]
I
was hoping to persuade Brent’s Cabinet, when the Bobby Moore Bridge advertising
lease came up for renewal later this year, to consider the option of only
allowing advertising on the large display panels on the bridge parapets. This
would give the opportunity to remove the light boxes currently covering most of
the mural scenes in the subway, possibly using some of the CIL funds which the
Council is sitting on to fund that work.
I
wrote to Brent’s Chief Executive on 4 January, setting out my suggestions for
how the Council could go about this, so that Cabinet members could be given a
choice of options when the lease came up for renewal in 2021. You can imagine
my surprise, and disappointment, when I received the this reply from Ms Downs
the following day:
‘The lease for Bobby Moore Bridge was
recommended for a three year extension from 30 August 2021 and expires on 30
August 2024. This was completed in November 2019 after market appraisal
was carried out by an independent advertising consultant who recommended the
lease extension on the basis of market conditions at the time and the
leaseholder’s ambitions to refurbish the area and upgrade the panels to digital
screens.’
It
didn’t appear that the Cabinet had approved this, so how did it come about, who
authorised the lease extension, and what authority did they have to do so? I submitted
a Freedom of Information Act request, and while I have yet to receive all the
items I asked for, I have received redacted copies of three documents.
One
document is a “Delegated Authority Report”, prepared by Brent’s Property
Services team. Addressed to the Operational Director (Property and Assets), it
includes the claim:
‘The Borough Solicitor has confirmed that pursuant to the Council’s New
Constitution Part 4, paragraph 4.3 you have the delegated authority to approve
of this letting.’
[The
Borough Solicitor? – Were they using a very old template?] I have yet to
receive the supporting evidence for that claim, so cannot comment yet on
whether the approval of the lease extension was valid. I would mention,
however, that the section of Brent’s Constitution included in the Report to
justify that authority begins with the words: ‘Only the Strategic Director
Resources may acquire or dispose of an interest in land or buildings’!
The
Deed of Variation itself raised the biggest concern, particularly one new
clause which it added to the terms of the original lease. I apologise for the
poor quality of this copy of it, but this is the best I could prepare from the
document supplied to me:
The new clause 10.3 in the Bobby Moore Bridge
advertising lease.
The
“Tile Mural” that this clause applies to is ‘the
9.4 metre tile football mural on the east side of the walls under the Bridge’.
In other words, the “footballers” mural that was supposed to be put back on
permanent public display in 2019! Yet here in an agreement entered into by
Brent Council they are saying that ‘the Tenant’ (Quintain’s Wembley Park Ltd
subsidiary) is entitled to cover it up, on many “event days” during the year,
up until August 2024.
I
have written to Carolyn Downs, and Brent’s Chief Legal Officer, to tell them
that this clause in the lease is unlawful.
‘It purports
to entitle the Tenant to cover 'the Tile Mural' on a substantial number of days
of each year.
However, on 28 November 2019, when the Deed was signed, it was already
the case that the Tenant's advertising consent did not include
consent to cover that "Footballers" mural scene with advertisements.
That clause is therefore invalid or void, because it purports to give an
entitlement which at the time was, and still is, unlawful.
Alternatively,
if that clause is considered valid, it is inoperable, because the Tenant does
not have the Necessary Consent, required by the lease, to cover that mural with
advertisements.
This is a legal matter which needs to be resolved now, before the
resumption of events at Wembley Stadium which may lead Quintain / Wembley Park
Ltd to unlawfully arrange for advertising which covers that mural, in the false
belief that the lease entitles them to do so.’
I will ask Martin to include my “legal argument” document at the end of this
article, if possible, so that it is in the public domain and anyone can read,
and refer to it, if they wish to do so. If
you are studying law, you might like to use it as a practical exercise, to see
what you think of the merits of Brent’s case and my answer to it. If you do
that, please feel free to give your “legal opinion” as a comment below!
I have issued my challenge to Brent over this issue (politely
and respectfully, of course):
‘I would ask you,
please, to ensure that the position I have set out in the attached document is
examined promptly by the Council's legal officers; and that if I am wrong, they
explain to me why that is so.
If I am
correct, as I strongly believe that I am, then they should acknowledge this,
and take action to ensure that Quintain / Wembley Park Ltd is informed that
they are NOT entitled to display advertisements covering the
"Footballers" mural on the east wall of the Bobby Moore Bridge subway.’
One positive variation of the lease, introduced by the November 2019 Deed, was
clause 10.4. This dealt with the “Tiling on East Wall” of Olympic Way, the
three mural scenes showing American Football, Rugby League and Ice Hockey which
were “revealed” for a few weeks in January and February 2020. It gave ‘the
Landlord’ (Brent Council) the right to request that these be revealed (that is,
put back on public display) for up to 21 days each calendar year.
The
East Wall tile murals at Olympic Way, February 2020. [Photo by Mark Price]
I
have written to ask whether Brent has made a request for these mural scenes to
be “revealed” for three weeks during 2021, and if so, between which dates. You
can be sure that if I get news of them being on public display, I will let you
know!
For
the moment, though, I want to make sure that the one mural scene our efforts
over the past three years have managed to get put back on permanent public
display, is not unlawfully covered up. And unlawfully covered up by a deal that
was concealed from public scrutiny.
Philip Grant.
The Legal Argument (Click bottom right for full page version)
