GREEDY JOHN LEWIS AND ITS MILLION POUND PLUS CHAIRMAN

Last year Mayfield took £1.5 million from the John Lewis Partnership so the question needs to be asked....

How much of his bunce was a bonus from property development. 

What on earth would the founding Lewis family think of this greed.

The Dame hears that last week certain councillors were called to a hastily convened panic meeting to discuss how to deal with the escalating Marlborough crisis.

Took £1.5 million from John Lewis

An Open Letter to Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of John Lewis Plc

2^nd October, 2015

Dear Sir Charlie Mayfield,

We call upon you, at this eleventh hour, to step in and save the Victorian Marlborough School building from demolition. Although the boundary walls have already been torn down, there is still time to stop the destruction of this historic Chelsea landmark - an act which residents believe is wrongful and driven purely by greed.

Since the planning permission is in the name of John Lewis Plc, and since it is also John Lewis that is funding the demolition and redevelopment, we hold your company directly responsible.

In addition, it has been revealed that John Lewis, in collusion with the Council, pressured English Heritage not to list Marlborough when The Victorian Society put in their application. Since John Lewis are Corporate Members of English Heritage, this represents a grave conflict of interest.

As you may be aware, the Council had failed to apply for, and obtain, the necessary S77 consent from the Secretary of State for Education, for Disposal of Playing Fields (playground) and as such the Department for Education has already warned them that they continue works “at their risk”. It appears, therefore, that a serious misrepresentation of facts was made to both John Lewis and the Planning Committee, since the Council did not have the correct written consent to dispose of the playground, without which planning consent should never have been granted.

Parents and residents are both shocked and angry that they are only now being asked to participate in a consultation over the disposal of playground; moreover, this consultation is happening alongside the demolition works, which is wholly undemocratic because it will be too late for their objections to count.

We ask you to review this matter urgently, and do all that you can to ensure the works come to an immediate halt before the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea loses one of its most cherished architectural gems.

Yours sincerely,

Save Marlborough Committee