Mayor accused of ‘bypassing democracy’ at prime site

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Mayor accused of ‘bypassing democracy’ at prime site that’s set to deliver a £1bn bonanza to ‘greedy’ Royal Mail

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THE newly-privatised Royal Mail has been slammed as “greedy” by campaigners and politicians who also condemned London Mayor Boris Johnson after he hijacked a huge development in Clerkenwell.

Royal Mail investors are set to make an estimated £1 billion over the redevelopment of the Mount Pleasant sorting office site – a prime inner London location between the regenerated King’s Cross and booming Tech City.

Around 681 homes and thousands of square feet of office space are set to be built in several 12-storey tower blocks. But the plans for the new “neighbourhood” include only 12 per cent affordable homes – just 81 actual homes – against Islington Council’s target of 50 per cent in new developments in a bid to tackle the borough’s chronic housing shortage.

Residents have criticised the blandness of the scheme. Many have already received letters from Royal Mail offering them thousands of pounds not to object to the plans – and to forgo their rights to natural daylight, which will be blocked by the towers.

Islington planners were therefore poised to refuse the initial scheme and negotiate hard to ensure there were homes that ordinary families could afford to rent. But in a shock move, Royal Mail has appealed directly to London Mayor Boris Johnson to call in the scheme and decide it himself, arguing that permission needs to be decided as quickly as possible.

And, in an unprecedented move, he has agreed to do so, infuriating residents and politicians alike.

Until just four months ago the site was owned by the taxpayer and the multi-million pound bonanza from selling off the huge piece of real estate would have gone to the Treasury. Instead, private invest­ors, who have already made £1bn from the undervaluation of Royal Mail when it was sold, stand to reap a huge windfall.

To add insult to injury, ordinary families will now be priced out.

Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney general and MP for Islington South and Finsbury, said it appeared that Mayor Johnson was trying to “circum­vent” the planning process.

Islington Council Labour leader Councillor Richard Watts is appalled by the decision. “The developer came to us first suggesting 20 per cent affordable housing,” he said. “Now they have looked at their figures and said: ‘Sorry, we can only offer 12 per cent affordable.’”

The council, which normally expects 50 per cent affordable housing in large developments, says it had the scheme independently asses­sed and believes Royal Mail can and should provide significantly more afford­able housing.

The project was this week described by London Olympic cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick as “downright lazy – cheap, bland, generic and misconceived”.

Mr Heather­wick, who designed the city’s new Routemaster buses, said: “I am personally engaged in the strategic effort to create a better public realm for this city. In this capacity, and as a local resident and employer, I believe London can and must do better than this.

“I join campaigners in calling for a new scheme that is good for the whole of London, a scheme which can serve as an exemplar of innovation and good urban design and is grounded in a proper understanding of the site, its history and its community and is a model of good practice in the design of the public realm.”

Residents from pressure group Mount Pleasant Forum complain that the scheme is badly designed, too “overcrowded” and lacking open spaces and amenities.

Camden Labour councillor Sue Vincent, chairwoman of plan­ning, said she was “outraged” that the Mayor had intervened over a scheme which has huge implications for the area.

Cllr Vincent, who represents Holborn and Covent Garden, added: “My understanding is that Royal Mail have reduced the affordable housing element, which is something that we might want to look at. The Mayor will usually call a development in when he doesn’t agree with the decision of a council. Calling it now, before we have made a decision, is like bypassing democracy.”

Camden’s London Assembly member Andrew Dismore said that Mayor Johnson has already closed Clerkenwell fire station to make way for a new development and now hopes to allow billions to be made from nearby Mount Pleasant.

He added: “The right to make the decisions on the Mount Pleasant applications must stay with the councils who have the local community’s interests at heart and should not be stolen from them by the Mayor.”

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said the company welcomed the Mayor’s decision to call in the scheme. “The redevelopment of this area will help regenerate the local neighbourhoods, creat­ing new public spaces and offer­ing up to 680 new homes, includ­ing affordable housing,” she said.

“It will also provide 1,250 new jobs in the wider economy.”

Mayor Johnson said: “London is growing at an unprecedented rate and it is absolutely vital that we get on with the important work of building thousands of new homes as quickly as we can. By taking over this application it should be possible to speed up the decision-making process. My team will be working closely with the local authorities and Royal Mail without further delay.”


TRIBUNE COMMENT: Undemocratic move is a blow for housing
ROYAL Mail plans to redevelop the massive Mount Pleasant site in Clerkenwell would have been initially scrutinised by both Camden and Islington councils – and whether well done or not, it would have been local democracy at work.

Now, London Mayor Boris Johnson has snatched this from the jaws of local democracy in an unprecedented move.

The stakes are high for all parties. The development of the site will probably cost millions and is reported to be able to yield about £2billion in revenue from sales of homes.

By responding – some might say obsequiously – to the overtures of the site’s new owners, the recently privatised Royal Mail, the Mayor has agreed, quite speedily, to adjudicate on the site himself.

Both Royal Mail and the Mayor are known to favour a lower proportion of affordable housing than local authorities.
All this bodes ill for those hoping that a site as big as this would produce hundreds of affordable homes.

It is not, essentially, a question of why did the Mayor abrogate this matter to himself, though the action is obviously debatable. It is more a question of why was this deed done so speedily without allowing time for a proper public discussion?

By the Mayor’s action of snatching adjudication on Mount Pleasant from Camden and Islington, it looks as if the housing crisis is now set to worsen.

[barbario]

Knowing Boris track record,this deal is as good as done.

[deshulme]

Labour Council no wonder they wanted more affordable houses. It all get's political now reduce the number of affordable houses and in move all those tory voters changing the landscape of the area. I can see Boris smiling now praticing his new Acting Role, "No Mr Bond.... I expect you to die!"