Agenda item
Report Called In - 33-37 The Oval and Bethnal Green Gasholders Site, E3
(Time allocated – 30 minutes)
The confidential appendix to the original cabinet report that forms part of this item is attached in Section 2 of the agenda at 13.1
Minutes:
Further to their respective declarations of a personal and prejudicial interest, Councillors Anwara Ali, Alibor Choudhury, Marc Francis, Sirajul Islam and Lutfur Rahman left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
Mr Lutfur Ali outlined the call-in procedure to the Committee.
Councillor Golds for the Call-In Members referred to the reasons in their requisition and highlighted the main issues that they held with the provisionally agreed decision to enter into a conditional agreement with the Developer to acquire land known as 33-37 The Oval, as well as the commissioning of a comprehensive investigation by the Chief Executive to establish whether the Authority has put in place adequate controls to prevent a recurrence of the procedural errors.
Councillor Golds advised that the reasons that these two options were placed before the Cabinet was that planning permission had been granted for the site without the Council consulting the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as it was legally required to do due to the presence of a gas works. This failure to consult had left the original planning permission vulnerable to legal challenge by the HSE, and both the Council and the Developer exposed to costs arising out of this.
Councillor Golds stated that the planning permission had been granted under delegated powers which was not appropriate for an application of this size, and the Council had not prevented the development of the site which was now considerable. No information had been placed before Members as to why officers sought to proceed with the flawed application over the objection of the HSE and the risk of involving the Secretary of State. This issue was placed before the Cabinet when the Lead Member for Resources was not present and so the Cabinet did not discuss the issues of affordability of either option.
Councillor Golds then responded to questions from the Committee concerning the adequacy of the proposed investigation and the possibility of incurring further costs if the developer was challenged.
Councillor Josh Peck, Lead Member for Resources and Performance, then addressed the Committee on behalf of the Cabinet in response to the Call-in and made the following points:
The matter did not come before either of the Council’s Development Committees because it was a case that was capable of being dealt with under delegated powers. The Cabinet report made clear that officers should have been aware of the gas works, this was not denied and therefore the failing was with the Council who then granted planning permission without consulting the HSE. All Members of the Cabinet were aware of the finances involved not just the Lead Member.
Committee Members then put detailed questions to Councillor Peck on a number of issues concerning the monitoring of delegated decisions, the length of the investigation, and the Enviromental Impact Assessment.
Following the discussion the Committee voted on whether to refer the item back to the Cabinet for further consideration and it was
RESOLVED:
That the alternative course of action proposed in the Call-in not be pursued and the decision of the Cabinet be confirmed, subject to the following comments being submitted to the Cabinet for consideration:
1. The investigation should be transparent and open to consultation with Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Development Committee and Strategic Development Committee;
2. The investigation should also consider if the Developer tried to mitigate any loss to the Council and if development activity was halted as soon as possible;
3. The Chief Executive’s investigation should also review the Council’s delegated powers and also explore ways in which community awareness could be increased in relations to such developments through the LAPs.
Supporting documents:
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Call in Report, item 6.1
PDF 75 KB
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33 to 37 The Oval & Bethnal Green Gasholders Site Final CAB 100908, item 6.1
PDF 85 KB
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33 to 37 The Oval & Bethnal Green Gasholders Site Appx A, item 6.1
PDF 45 KB