Bromley Council breached their own rules during the meeting at which the application to build Tower Blocks in Penge was decided, in a way which was obviously partisan and unfair. Don’t let them get away with it! Complain! Here’s how:
Browse to Bromley’s complaints page ( https://www.bromley.gov.uk/complaints/complaints-procedure-1) and fill in the web form. For best results, you can paste the text below and if you wish, add a few words of your own. The whole process will take less than 5 minutes, but will really help when we lobby the Mayor of London to reject the proposal.
What is your complaint?
“There were significant procedural irregularities in the way the DCC meeting on 05/03/24 (at which application 23/00178/FULL1 was approved) was conducted : The developer, Hadley, was permitted to bring an entire team of people to speak, whereas the representative of Penge Forum who opposed the plans, was not. This could have made a difference to the final decision. This was a breach of the Council’s own code of conduct for planning meetings.
Furthermore, Hadley’s representative, Alex Portlock, stated on several occasions that he had been told that he could bring a team to address the meeting, whereas no such dispensation was granted to Penge Forum, which could mean that the breach of protocol was committed before the meeting began, which indicates that there could be evidence of systemic bias in the proceedings.
Sections 6.5 of the Planning Code of Conduct states as follows: ” Normally one person is permitted to speak for an application and one person permitted to speak against it. If there are more than two requests to speak for or against, people with similar views should get together and agree spokespersons. If there is no agreement, the first person to notify Democratic Services of their intention to speak will be called. Among supporters, the applicant (or if the applicant wishes the agent) takes precedence, and if the applicant or agent do not wish to speak, the first supporters will be called”
Section 9.4 states that the committee Chairman “should lead and manage the committee and in particular ensure that the public speaking procedure is followed”.
Section 9.5 states that councillors should “Not allow anyone (except officers, other committee Members and public speakers when they are addressing the committee) to communicate with them during the meeting (orally or in writing) as this may give the appearance of bias.”
I would assert that all three sections of the code of conduct have been breached, and as a result, public confidence in Bromley’s planning procedures has been damaged, and the conduct of the Chair in this case could easily give rise to accusations of bias and malfeasance.”
What would you like the Council to do?
- Declare the results of the meeting null and void and restart the process of considering planning application 23/00178/FULL1.
- Apologise, and provide written confirmation that the procedural irregularities outlined above resulted in a decision which was biased and unfair.