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Probe into sale of heritage building
A CONTROVERSIAL deal to sell off listed buildings in King’s Cross to developers is to be investigated by a special panel of backbench councillors.
Green Party leader Cllr Adrian Oliver has teamed up with Labour members to force a ‘call-in’, an internal council inquiry which could ultimately recommend freezing the sale of the Stanley Buildings to Argent Limited.
Finance chiefs and senior councillors will have to explain why they agreed to offload the property for around £3 million. The price is understood to include a “premium” of £1 million paid by the developers on top of their initial offer due to the general acceptance that the site is crucial to their wider plans to redevelop the King’s Cross railwaylands.
Surveyors warned last week that the Town Hall could have asked for anything up to £7 million for the buildings.
One council source said: “I think there is a concern at the moment that these buildings have gone for a song.”
Protesters to the sale said that the agreement should not have been reached while Camden waits to see how a judicial review will pan out.
Mr Oliver said that if a High Court judge rules against the Town Hall then Camden could be guilty of issuing unlawful planning consents on its own buildings and agreeing illegal demolition.
Mr Oliver said: “Should the sale go ahead now and the legal challenge succeed, the council would have profited from granting unlawful planning consents for its own land and buildings..”
Councillors sitting on the investigating watchdog will meet next month.
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