Bromley’s decision to approve the Blenheim Centre development was, to say the least, questionable. The text below is the second in a series of complaints regarding the actions of the Planning Officers which mean that the Development Control Committee’s decision should be declared null and void and the application should be reconsidered.
Please spare 5 minutes to make a complaint – this is an easy cut and paste job – text below. The more people do this, the more they will realise that they can’t just ignore the rights of the citizens whose interests they are supposed to serve – the hard working public who pay their wages!
Your help appreciated!
Link to the complaint form here: https://www.bromley.gov.uk/complaints/complaints-procedure-1 (Note: If the link doesnt work for some reason, try Googling Bromley Complaints – which should get you to the right page.)
Details of complaint:
Re: (23/00178/FULL1) BLENHEIM SHOPPING CENTRE, HIGH STREET, PENGE (PENGE AND CATOR WARD)
The above application was approved by the Development Control Committee on 05/03/24.
It is my assertion that the decision was made in questionable circumstances: Critical information regarding fire safety from the London Fire Brigade, and additional objections from Transport For London, and Hannah Gray, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Penge were only made available to committee members in an addendum a few hours before the meeting took place. The LFB document was received by Bromley’s planning officers on 29/02/24, and TFL’s on 28/02/24.
I am at a loss to understand why vital documentation of this nature was withheld from the Committee until it was too late for them to fully read and consider the contents, when it had been received the previous week, and I would allege that this constitutes either malfeasance or negligence on the part of Bromley’s planning officers.
Planning decisions of this magnitude should not be made unless members of the committee have access to all the necessary information on which to base their decision, and this was clearly not the case in this instance.
What would you like the Council to do?
Issue a written apology, acknowledging that the DCC meeting should have been postponed, declare the outcome of said meeting to be null and void and call another meeting to discuss the application