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£3m stitch-up in smoky back room
Town Hall sells off historic housing blocks in secret
CAMDEN Council late last night (Wednesday) sold off one of the oldest buildings in King’s Cross after being offered a sweetener payment of £1 million by developers, the New Journal can reveal.
Senior councillors said they could hardly refuse a bid by Argent Limited for the Stanley Buildings.The company plan to demolish the listed block as part of its £2-billion redevelopment of the railway lands behind King’s Cross and St Pancras stations.
Financial details surrounding the deal have been shrouded in secrecy and were only circulated to a select group of council chiefs in a special report known as ‘the pink papers’.
The Town Hall has been desperate to keep the agreement secret amid calls for the buildings to be sold to a housing association, refurbished and converted into affordable homes.
But, last night (Wednesday), the New Journal learned details of the confidential report and understands that the block will change hands for roughly £3 million.
This figure, the pink papers reveal, includes Argent’s initial £2 million bid and a “premium” of £1 million paid by the developers to secure the deal.
The revelation of a bonus payment has angered protesters who were yesterday (Wednesday) describing the negotiations as a “backroom stitch-up”.
The Stanley Buildings were never offered publicly and no opportunity was given for a housing association to enter a bid.
Instead, negotiations were carried out behind closed doors.
Liberal Democrat councillor John Bryant told a cabinet meeting at the Town Hall that there was little point offering them to a housing association because they would not be able to match Argent’s offer once the premium had been included.
He said: “Bearing in mind the premium in the offer it is unlikely that a housing association would be able to make a similar bid.”
His comments were endorsed by finance director Mike O’Donnell, who said the final sale price was the best available for Camden and above the general valuation for the property.
The developers are offering the extra money because it is accepted that the building is important to them because it stands in the way of their plans to re-align St Pancras Road as part of the wider development.
The money – the first million of which is expected up front – could be put into projects such as the refurbishment of Kentish Town Baths or improvements to school buildings, Mr O’Donnell added.
Although the sale needs ministerial consent, the government has already approved Argent’s outline plan for the area.
None of the councillors made any mention of the historic nature of the buildings, which was acquired by the Town Hall under slum clearance powers decades ago.
The future of Stanley Buildings is a contentious issue because it is already subject to a High Court order outlawing its demolition on the grounds that the King’s Cross redevelopment is subject to an imminent Judicial Review.
Campaign group King’s Cross Think Again argues that the councillors who signed off permission for Argent to begin work last November were wrongly advised that they could not turn down the massive blueprint. The case hits the Royal Courts of Justice later this month for an initial hearing.
The objectors appealed for the council to put the Stanley deal on hold last night but were ignored. Michael Edwards, from King’s Cross Think Again, said the sale was “premature” given the court action.
He said: “If the planning consent is quashed, uses of Stanley buildings will be up for review. The need to realign St Pancras Road, said to justify demolition of one block, will be part of that as well as the future potential uses of the buildings.”
Ernest James, a former councillor who represents the King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee, added: “The idea here is that nothing is of value unless it makes a profit.”
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