Council investigating further options
Boris Johnson's decision to approve a huge development in Southall may be called in for further scrutiny.
Ealing Council - which opposes the scheme - is considering asking the Government Office for London to investigate the application further.
Council Leader Jason Stacey says the council is unhappy with the Mayor's ruling and is asking his legal team to look further into the decision. He is also considering having the application called in - as happened with the Arcadia development - which could see an end to the project.
Meanwhile Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Ealing Southall has accused local Conservatives of 'colluding' with the Mayor.
Virendra Sharma says planning officers from Ealing attended the meeting in which the decsion was made and supported the application.
He says:
''That Ealing’s Planning Officers should attend the meeting and argue in favour of the development when the democratically elected planning committee had already voted against it is astonishing.
''Also that they should report that the Tory Chair of Ealing’s planning committee was now in favour of the development smells of a stitch up.”
Councillor Stacey says:
'' The Conservative administration has had a very clear line on the Southall Gas Works development. The rejection by the Planning Committee at the end of last year on the grounds of the transport impact at the South Road end of the site was sound and we did not support Mayor Johnson's 'call in' of the application as these matters should be decided locally; in this case by Ealing and Hillingdon Councils.
'' We ... completely reject Mr Sharma's assertions and of course it seems ironic that he takes this position now when he himself with his Labour colleagues just four years ago look set to agree a much bigger development of 5,000 homes until the new Conservative administration intervened.''
April 15th, 2010
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