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Labour MP Paul Stinchcombe and former Camden councillor Ernest James outside one of the historic buildings at King’s Cross
SPECIAL REPORT: AS THE TOWN HALL PREPARES TO GIVE THE GO AHEAD TO A £2BN SCHEME THAT WILL CHANGE KING’S CROSS FOREVER, RICHARD OSLEY INVESTIGATES

Legal challenge looms in row over 'debate stifled' claim

CAMPAIGNERS are threatening legal action against the Town Hall unless it postpones next week’s decision over the King’s Cross site.

They say they have been denied a role in the debate because of a dictact which banned councillors who will make the decision from talking to objectors.
They also claimed that they have been forced to merge deputations to save time during the planned discussions.
In a legal letter to council chief executive Moira Gibb, campaigner Rupert Perry, from the King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee conservation group, said that the Town Hall had acted unlawfully and in a manner that stifled debate.
The complaint, which invites Ms Gibb to postpone the hearings, demanded a response by noon tomorrow (Friday).
Former councillor Ernest James said: “This letter is a marker. If these issues are not dealt with then there could even be a judicial review. The meetings should be delayed if they are not going to be run properly.” Mr James helped shoot down plans to turn King’s Cross into an ‘office city’ more than 10 years ago, with the former Labour MP Paul Stinchcombe. The two were reunited on the site on Tuesday to issue the new warning to the council.
They want developers Argent to find a way to retain existing buildings on the land.
Mr Stinchcombe said: “You have the chance here to have a setting where the old can mix with the new. There is no reason to knock down some of the old buildings in King’s Cross.”
The two were members of the council’s planning committee in the early 1990s that stopped the Rosehaugh Stanhope consortium from filling the land with offices. They were the brokers in a deal that ensured the transport hub at King’s Cross was built before any new offices. The scheme later collapsed during an economic recession.
Mr James, from the King’s Cross Conservation Advisory Area Committee, said: “They are trying to shut down the debate. First they say that we can’t talk to the councillors, then they say that when you do get the chance to make your points you have to merge your deputations.”
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