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Ken: I’m in charge
Mayor flexes his muscle to sort out Lib Dems and Tories
MAYOR of London Ken Livingstone has proved he is keeping a hawkeye watch on Camden by taking command of one the borough’s most hotly-disputed planning rows.
He has ordered a public inquiry into the Town Hall’s approval of a seven-storey development overlooking a park in Kentish Town, making sure his experts will have the final say on the scheme and not the council.
The move came on Tuesday afternoon and leaves the potentially embarrassing possibility of Camden being overruled.
In planning terms, it is one of the smallest developments that Mr Livingstone has asked to go under the microscope. His intervention has provided a powerful reminder to the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition that ultimately it bows to the Mayor’s authority.
Councillors had already told developers that they could permanently close Dalby Street as part of a project to build a new block of apartments and a doctor’s surgery.
But the future of the road, which leads to the Talacre Sports Centre, is now in the hands of planning experts at the Greater London Authority instead.
Privately, council sources have suggested that Mr Livingstone has become more and more mindful of issues in Camden since his Labour colleagues lost power last year and has shown that he is more than happy to step in where he sees fit.
Only last week he visited Gospel Oak and lamented the council’s performance. He said
the coalition had shown a “nasty streak” over service cuts and challenged it to do more work to combat anti-social behaviour.
The sensitive timing of his interventions has not escaped his rivals. It came less than two days before today’s (Thursday’s) by-election in Haverstock, certain to be a straight fight between Labour and the Lib Dems in a poll where the winning candidate may only win by a handful of votes.
Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “One week he is commenting on policing in Haverstock. The next he is intervening in a planning issue. If a councillor had behaved like this, then we could be talking about being reported to the standards board.”
Unlike last week’s comments, Mr Livingstone did not make a big public announcement. Instead, his intervention filtered through to the press through excited party members who are aware that the row over Dalby Street could have a bearing on today’s (Thursday’s) neck and neck poll.
In a letter seen by the New Journal, Mr Livingstone told Camden’s engineering service: “There remains uncertainty as to how the impact will be managed… and the holding of an inquiry is necessary under the terms of the (Town and Country Planning) act.”
Campaigners opposed to the development yesterday toasted the new inquiry.
Peter Cuming, who lives close to Dalby Street, said: “I regard this as the most excellent news. It will mean the issues can be discussed publicly in an independent forum and the anxieties of the public of the whole effect of the development can be thoroughly ventilated.”
He added: “It’s taken a long time for the opportunity for people to examine the project in all its strangeness. Boris (Johnson, suggested Conservative Mayor) will be in the waiting room forever if Ken continues to do good things like this. This is an extremely welcome development and we can look forward to participating in the public inquiry when it comes.”
The process of closing Dalby Street, known as ‘stopping up’, was approved by Lib Dem and Conservative councillors on the council’s highest highway committee in March, and developers TRAC property had hopes of starting work in July. Their designs included plans for a ‘new Dalby Street’ nearby.
Without changes to the road, the development given planning permission in January 2006 – notably when Labour was in power – is regarded unviable.
Works could be delayed for months by the GLA inquiry which will investigate the 29 objections that the council received during their consultation into the ‘stopping up’. Councillors imposed a series of conditions on the scheme, including the requirement of two traffic marshals to control the flow of traffic into the sports centre – but 25 of the objections were not withdrawn.
A council press official said: “We welcome the opportunity to enable further public access. We are keen to work with the GLA and the developer.” |
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