BREAKING NEWS!!
POOTER COCKELL HAS TAKEN THE ADVICE OF HIS DEAR FRIEND, THE DAME. HE WILL BE ANNOUNCING HE HAS TAKEN HER ADVICE AND WILL NOT ATTEND THE PLANNING COMMITTEE...
ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE DEAR OLD THING!
On April 8th the Planning Committee meet to discuss various applications. So far....so boring.
However, there are two controversial applications for a property at 19 Hillgate St, Notting Hill.
If granted neighbours will suffer from a substantial loss of amenities....including loss of light and privacy.
One of the neighbours, a Mr Donald Cameron, has robustly protested about the way the applicant has applied for planning permission. He believes it to be a manipulation of the planning system.
But leave all that to one side: consider instead a far more controversial aspect.
Mr Cameron, a long term Conservative Party member, is well known to Councillor Cockell.
There is no love lost and much bad blood between these two. Why so?
Over the years, Mr Cameron, the retired CEO of an international communications group, has led a campaign to oust Cllr Cockell as leader of the Council on the grounds that:
- Fourteen years was far too long for him to squat
- That his allowances(sometimes totalling £120,00 a year) were totally unacceptable
- And that he abused his expenses and the Mayoral Bentley
On April 8th Cllr Cockell will be a member of the Planning Committee considering an application which could have serious consequences for Mr Cameron.
There is no suggestion that Cllr Cockell will be petty enough to use his position to get his own back, but it would be much more sensible if Cllr Cockell did not deliberate on an application which he is so conflicted on.
So step aside Cllr Cockell!
I would not be in the least surprised if Pooter did not try to get vengeance. He is a silly little fellow.
ReplyDeleteI know Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell well and he is above petty squabbles and childish vendettas. A person of probity, vision and wisdom
DeleteI agree...there is always some pathetic resident complaining Cllr Merrick Cockell and his $400 dinner with the convicted thief, ex Boris Deputy Mayor, Ian Clement. Why shouldn't he have a bit of fun?
DeleteI remember him sweating around Africa selling cigarettes to the poor of Africa. He has done well for himself considering he has no education.
Stop moaning residents. Be proud of the fact he screwed all of you idiots
I know when I am shafted. But it is such a regular happening in K&C and I am so busy working hard to pay the school fees, that I am starting not to notice.
DeleteAnyone who has paid salaries knows that take home pay is only the start. The true cost includes additions such as pension, health and so on. Typically these costs account for an extra 30% of pay. Cllr Cockell's "trough" of £120k take home pay from the public purse was costing taxpayers £175k every year.
DeleteI am sure that my very good friend Merrick, would never dream of actually taking all the excessive ammounts he was paid for himself, and am sure he contributed most of it to charitable causes. And of course, charity begins at home.
DeleteAmazing that the Council puts up a Councillor to judge a resident's objection when this particular Councillor and this particular resident have been at loggerheads for years. This is K&C style democracy
ReplyDeleteCertain Tory Councillors have been strident in their opinions about what a joke the Planning Applications Committee (Chairman, Cllr Warwick, a prime target of the Independents in Stanley Ward) has become. "It is a puppet show. Rude, partisan and biased" - according to one senior Conservative Councillor
DeleteOne Tory Councillor has voted with his feet and another has gone public and spoken out. How deaf does the Leader, Cllr Paget-Brown, need to be?
DeleteCllr Mosely resigned from the Committee in disgust about the way it was operating and abusing residents
ReplyDeleteCllr Mosely is a dying breed of Councillor in K&C - a person with a social conscience. What a pity that he has decided not to stand for election next month. Another young Councillor, Cllr Barkhorder, is also slipping away quietly and decided not to stand. Yet another young Tory with energy, vigour and intelligence (Cllr Cecil) pushed off because he got fed up with the two faced nature of the K&C Tories. Parties cannot afford to alienate young blood. And some of these names with great political dynasties behind them. All of these capable Councillors decided that their time and energy will be better spent elsewhere. Something is wrong, Cllr Paget-Brown
DeleteQUite so. Losing people of the quality of those mentioned above and clinging on to flotsam like Cllr Palmer after he was ejected from his place in N Kensington, is another sign of the times
DeleteThe Chelsea Independents are standing on the basis of "more deocracy, less development" in Kensington and Chelsea. This story illustrates very well some of the abuse and "insider" activity that goes on in the Hornton Street planning system
ReplyDeleteShocking. Absolutely shocking.
ReplyDeleteStandards became very lax in the Royal Borough towards the end of the Pooter Cockle dictatorship and unfortunately the situation seems to continue in certain quarters. Planning has always been a law onto itself with a balance of power in favour of Officers which cannot be right in a democratic system. But this story goes even further and suggests a serious breach of ethics. The current Leader should take a personal interest in this case and ask some questions.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Cllr Cockell continue to hang around? One of his friends should have a quiet word in his ear and tell him that there is a time when it is a good idea just to fade away.
ReplyDeleteOne of Cockell's close supporters (silly ex Cllr Fairhead) rejoices in telling fellow Conservatives that the job of good Tories in Kensington and Chelsea is to "crush resident protest".
ReplyDeletePrat
Planning in K&C stinks. Much of the current circus behaviour is the personal responsibility of Cllr Warwick
ReplyDeleteMore trash from Hornet bloggers
ReplyDelete15:54 you are farting in the wind. Getting a bit sweaty too?
DeleteSlip ups happen. There was no intention to create a clash between a Councillor and a resident
ReplyDeleteSpeaking entirley impartially and without any impartilaity, I believe that there is a clear conflict that could influence the outcome of this planning application, Sir Merrick should acknowledge this and voluntarily stand down on this particular planning application. If not, I believe that Nick Paget-brown should step in and have quiet word with Sir Merrick and persuade him to stand down.
ReplyDeleteI understand the Dame has had a word in Pooter's ear.
DeleteThe Chairman of the Planning Committee, Cllr Warwick, needs to do his job properly and remove Cllr Cockell from the entire proceedin of this meeting. Councillors are quick to mouth the words when an agenda item comes up "I declare an interest" but this is often a cynical manipulation of process. For those who do not know it, the way that the Planning Committee works is this. The Chairman has a pre meeting of the Tory group immediately before the meeting and they decide how to vote. Discussion at the Committee is irrelevant. Three minute statements from objectors who choose to attend and speak are irrelevant - just a sop to unsuspecting sheep. Results are pre determined. In the circumstances, if Cllr Cockell is a member of the committee and takes part in the pre determining decision process, it is then a corruption for him to say at the committee "I declare an interest and will not vote".
ReplyDeleteIf this analysis is incorrect then Cllr Warwick has the opportunity to blog and put us straight.
Pigs will fly before Cllr Warwick puts anything straight. Hopefully the reptile will be dust after the 7th May
DeleteDrivel. Pure drivel on the Hornet.
ReplyDeleteCalm down Matthew....
DeleteWasp is correct. Conservative members of the planning committee are instructed before meetings on how to vote. They do so like the sheep they are. Only on the rarest occasions does one of them dare break ranks.
ReplyDeleteIt is equally true that planning permission is routinely manipulated to reward certain applicants while punishing critics. The system is corrupt.
Three cheers for the Dame. Her influence grows by the day. Maybe sanity and common sense will some day return to the Rotten Borough
ReplyDeleteWhat would we do without the Dame?
ReplyDeleteIn four short years the Hornet and the feared Dame have become a force for good in Hornton Street. The old girl has achieved more than the Labour opposition has in 50 years and put fear into the heads of the rotten Councillors - of whom there are currently too many
DeleteNinety percentof this blog has ben written by Labour Councillor Emma Dent Coad. The Hornet has become a Labour organ
ReplyDelete"BECOME" --- No always has been
DeleteCllr Dent Coad (Labour) loves to blog. She runs her own blog and spends hours every day feeding it with tripe.The style is identical to the trash that she also throws up on the Hornet. Dent is a compulsive blogger - on her own blog and in the closet on the Hornet. But now she has been exposed
DeleteIt seems the Dame is really getting to you.....!!!
DeleteYour plaintive cry is noted....and of course, rejected. If anything, the Dame is an old fashioned Tory. She holds to values no longer core to the Tory Party.
ReplyDeleteYour silly protestations that the Dame's sacred organ is written by the admirable Emma Dent Coad exist only in your bizarre mind. The lady has more than enough to do serving her ward....something, perhaps you might focus upon, rather than spending council meetings looking after your share portfolio.
If the truth be told there are a number of Conservative councillors who believe that you and your puerile antics bring this council into disrepute. They are honourable and hard working and are correct in thinking you are slightly unhinged.
Were Labour in control the Hornet would be equally vociferous in attacking them if they behaved in the same way.However, they are not and thus have no power.
Rather than behaving like a clown why not do more to sort out the democratic deficiencies made so apparent in the way the Planning Dept operates?
Well said Dame! The Planning Committee could take a massive step towards democracy by abandoning the practice of the Chairman's pre meeting for Tory Councillors to decide how they should vote at the meeting. Why not let the Councillors hear the arguments, including objectors, and make up their own minds at the meeting. Why on earth should the whip be applied to planning?? It is not a party political matter
DeleteWhy waste time and money on a meeting if the decisions are decided before the meeting? Am I missing something?
DeleteTory democracy in Hornton Street sucks
ReplyDeleteThis is the 37th comment on this thread. Perhaps a record for the Hornet and certainly an indication of the scale of residents' anger at what passes for a planning system in the Very Rotten Borough.
ReplyDeleteRBKC tory councillors are routinely whipped to vote on each case, before committee meetings. So every year thousands of residents are denied due process. Presumably such a practice is unlawful.
This has been a very enlightening blog. There is no reason why there should not be an "open vote" at Planning Meetings. Councillors should listen to the evidence, hear objectors, read the papers,and then come to an individual decision. The Chairman should manage the contributions, seek points of clarity/explanation and then go around each Councillor and asks for his or her opinion. And that should be the result.
ReplyDeleteI once attended a Planning Applications Committee and was surprised to observe two things. First, the tired look on Officers and Councillors faces when objectors were called to speak for their three minutes. And second, The Chairman (Cllr Warwick) started the summing up by indicating his vote and then asked Committee Members for their vote. This is unheard of behaviour for a Chairman. His job is to draw out the opinion of members and find the common ground. Anything else is an
abuse of process. Quite extraordinary that such corruption has become so entrenched. But this blog explains it all. Decisions are fixed before meetings and the meetings themselves are a charade. What s the point of wasting public money on this scale? What is the point of hoodwinking residents on this scale? What is the reason for such base dishonesty?
Thank you sir. You speak from knowledge and experience. The answer to all this is another question. Who benefits? To which the answer is, follow the money.
ReplyDeleteYou have answered my query. You describe the way RBKC planning committee meetings are routinely conducted as "dishonest" and "corrupt." By definition, corruption is unlawful. So it's time residents wrote to Mr Holgate, RBKC's Chief Executive drawing his attention to this most serious matter.
By the way, until recently 2 objectors were allowed 3 minutes each for every application. That 6 minutes was recently reduced to 3 minutes in total.
The 3 minute rule is believed to be illegal. The Kensington Society is taking Counsel's opinion about this
DeleteSpeaking for three minutes, or any other length of time, makes no difference. The decision has been decided beforehand at the Chairman's pre meeting. It is black theater. The pathetic Cllr Warwick exercising power. Thank goodness Warwick was not a resident of Berlin in the 1940's
Delete