A resident writes from a personal perspective....
'Bore and his henchmen from the Planning Dept have bullied and lied to Councillors and objectors alike for too long now. Wasn't Councillor Ahern meant to be getting a grip and making Planning more resident friendly? 0/10 there then!
Well done to Cllr Blakeman for pointing all this out, but not before it was too late for residents in her own Notting Barnes Ward, whose views on the Kensington Academy (KALC) have been treated with contempt and disdain by those with power in the Planning Dept at the Council.
The Planning Dept's treatment of this community in North Kensington has caused great upset and will never be forgotten. Residents on Lancaster West Estate have been treated as poorly as the residents who faced callous Council indifference in the 70s when the Westway flyover was built and they were forced to live overlooking the motorway.
At the KALC Planning Committee one of the Councillors did not even know the basic layout of the proposed site and kept rudely interrupting an objector while they made their legitimate submission. Needless to say the application was a shoe in!
This was also despite the fact that the actual KALC Planning Application was so flawed and full of misleading facts and claims that it was not fit for purpose and would never have survived the briefest scrutiny-which, of course, it never got.
The issue of pollution by the Westway Sports Centre will come back to haunt this Planning Dept who have again bullied a number of Majority Party Councillors into covering up this shameful ill-treatment of sports users who are now forced to play football mere feet away from the slip road off a highly polluted motorway.
Councillor Coates (Conservative) was promised a report into pollution levels but he has now been silenced and sidelined by an act of collusion between the Planning and Legal Dept. Councillors Coleridge's platitudes to local campaigners are on this subject do him or the Council no justice. What a cess-pit but this is one that will be exposed!
Seeing the Kensington Odeon Planning Committee in supposed action was truly heartbreaking. Their readiness to surrender the wonderful trees outside the cinema and sanction the disappearance of the iconic Odeon itself, into multi-million pound estate agents dream, proves that the very soul is being ripped out of this most Rotten Borough. Profit before residents is the current mantra.
Seeing a teenage resident, attending the Odeon Planning Committee, burst into tears on hearing that the magnificent and much loved trees would be butchered will stay with many present for many years.
Not sure anyone on the Committee even noticed or stopped to consider this youngsters or the wider community's pain and dissatisfaction!'
If things are this bad at the Planning Committee then traditionally it is the job of the Committee Chairman to sort things out. Kick some ass. Make some changes. That kind of thing. With external opinion behind him, he can make whatever changes he wants.
ReplyDeleteIs the Chairman up to it or is he part of the problem?
DeleteThis is the problem. The Chairman is Cllr Terrance Buxton from Earls Court. Acolyte of the late disgraced ex Cllr Phelps and brother in law of the inventor of Chelsea Care, Cllr Fiona Buxton. An ambitious person who fancies himself as Leader of the Borough and is transfixed on becoming a Cabinet Member - something that has so far eluded him in spite of massive crawling to the society obsessed Pooter. Unfortunately for Buxton he is nothing special in the social ranks. Nothing at all.
DeleteThe time has come for the Earls Court councillor to "shit or get off the pot" as my nephew often tells me. He has been a totally useless Chairman to date but now is the time to redeem himself. Any advice that the Dame can give is willingly offered. She knows a thing or three about setting about rotten outfits
Buxton has not very much between the ears but there is a native cunning that needs to be deployed.
DeleteSadly, Buxton's "native cunning" was not in evidence when he Chaired the shambles that was the KALC Planning Application. He behaved more like a spineless poodle and was putty in the hands of Bore and his quislings.
DeleteOne job for a Chairman is to motivate but he also needs to be certain that there is a balance and individual interests are kept in control. A classic sign of a poor Chairman is when Officers think that they rule the roost and ride roughshod over any attempt to participate in the democratic process. They think they are Gods and a weak Chairman is too timid to enforce discipline. Buxton has performed badly. He has been doing the job for a long time and Officers consider him a "push over". He is also lazy and does not put in the time to master his brief and understand the issues. Coupled with poor political judgement he adds up to a walking disaster.
DeleteIt is time to replace Cllr Buxton with a person who is prepared to put in the hours and has the grey matter and political judgement to rebuild faith in the Planning System
Wise words, Owl.
DeleteWho is this Councillor Buxton, I am a resident of Earls Court and never heard of him, so he apparently works for himself and not for residents. If as this blog suggests that his handling of the Lancaster West project has been a shambles, what ungodly mess will he create in the Exhibition Centres redevelopment.
DeletePowerful stuff! Councillor Coates's treatment and the lies told to silence him should be referred to the Standards Committee.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the hard luck story re Sir Coates? An odious fellow if there ever was one
DeleteOne of the core activities of local Government, Local Planning, clearly a shambles in K&C. Another failure of Leadership to add to the everlasting list. When will the poodles get rid of Cockell?
ReplyDeleteSir Merrick is on a charge. Mr Meyers is consolidating power in Hammersmith and it can only be a matter of time before our Leader is established there too
ReplyDeleteCllr Palmer if you insist on writing nonsense you could at least have the manners to spell my name correctly...you dolt!
ReplyDeleteIt so déclassé to sign yourself ‘Mr Myers’ so I think it cannot really be you. But this merely an aside. The word in the Town Hall is that Councillor Terence Buxton will stand down at the next election, so there will be a new chairman of planning. The money is on Councillor Hargreaves who shows little appetite for getting into the detail of planning matters or the technicalities involved in planning but is undoubtedly Cockell’s latest ‘blue eyed boy’. This is much more important than an in depth interest in planning. Cockell has a very low opinion of planning and thinks that a safe pair of hands is more important than wasting time on the boring technicalities.
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, the demise of Buxton is welcome news. What a pity it does not extend to the other Buxton menace as well, the inventor of Chelsea Care and bird brain extraordinary named Fiona.
DeletePlanning is so important that it cannot be left to another airhead. Especially since Cllr Ahern has announced that planning needs to become more "resident friendly"- a policy that is taking too long to materialise. My vote is for Cllr Dent-Coad. A hard working councillor with planning credentials who has been very vocal about the failings of the current system. She is experienced and knows the ropes. No Officer will pull wool over her eyes. Her nomination would be an inspired choice.
Who is WASP?
DeleteCllr Hargreaves is another self employed consultant (ie cant find work elsewhere). This is not the sort of person who will be able to bring highly paid planning officers under control
DeleteMr Myers is very declasse....but he likes afternoon tennis lessons in Hounslow....
ReplyDeleteNo, no surely not Hounslow. Very, very declasse. And as for Cockell in Hammersmith, not at all a worthy successor for a 'hands on' person like Greenhalgh.
DeleteDisgraced ex Cllr Phelps still has his photos locked away
DeleteWas he having a bit of rumpy pumpy in Hounslow? One hears that the 'tennis lessons' left him very sweaty......
ReplyDeletePooter does not have the balls to play with quality and choose ability. He is too insecure a person
ReplyDeleteDo you mean EDC for Planning Chairman?
DeleteYes. EDC is a more inspired choice than Hargreaves
DeleteEDC an inspired choice - and would not be likely to end her term of office with a property company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
ReplyDelete18:32
ReplyDeleteAre you suggesting that one ex Chair of planning and a very dodgy Planning director might have had a considerable number of off shores?????????
Disgraced ex Cllr Phelps set the example with offshore BVI registered properties in K&C and 23 credit cards and three offshore bank accounts. At the same time pleading poverty.
DeletePooter does pick them....
DeleteAt the Standards Committee investigation of Phelps and his affairs, serving Committee member Cllr Coleridge observed that "these offshore arrangements are quite common". A Freudian slip?
DeleteRats nest
DeleteThe Dame did well to bust Phelps arse. She is force of nature. Most officers(except Bore) love her.....though they pretend they have never heard of her Dameship
ReplyDeleteMr Bore is a problem for residents because Cllr Buxton allows him to be a problem. In other words, the problem is Cllr Buxton
ReplyDeleteBore hates these comments. Like most Officers he is thin skinned and the barbs go straight to the heart. Sad fellow
ReplyDeleteSurely, this can't be the same the Jonathon.Bore who, when let out in public, delights in verbally abusing and intimidating residents?
ReplyDeleteThe very same. A bully. The solution is a sharp punch on the nose. Preferably by a small person. Then the bullying stops
DeleteThe Council has an officer designated to read Dame Hornet each morning and report back.
ReplyDeletePathetic or frightening, depending on which way you look at it.
Delete