Issue - meetings

The Leader reported that a letter had been emailed earlier on the day to all Cabinet Members on behalf of Land Securities, Legal and General, Romulus and Stanhope PLC, expressing their concern with regard to the recommendation on this report.

Councillor Andrew Jones stated that this was a special planning guidance document around affordable workspace, which was a core part of the Council’s local industrial strategy and the White City innovation district. This guidance would enable the Council to support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Start-ups and the not-for-profit sector. The guidance had been informed by independent and technical evidence and had been subject to public consultation at the end of the previous year.  This guidance was a starting point for negotiation with any developer and specified 20% of the floor space to be allocated to affordable workspace.

Councillor Andrew Jones added that in relation to the letter mentioned by the Leader he had been advised that, after careful consideration, it did not raise any new issues from previous responses to the document.

Joanne Woodward, Chief Planning Officer, reiterated Councillors Jones’ response in relation to the letter received and added that the issues raised by it had been dealt with during the consultation at the end of the previous year. The letter received earlier on the day from Gerald Eve LLP, on behalf of a number of developers, was an updated version of the one they had sent in November, with no new issues raised. At the time of the consultation in November, Joanne Woodward and her team had fully considered all the issues raised in the letter from Gerald Eve LLP.

The Leader expressed his disappointment at receiving this letter because the innovation district was positively transforming the borough, particularly White City. The innovation district was a first of its kind where the Council had stablished a formal relationship with a university and invited a business board to generate business in the borough. The aim was to dominate the economy in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, media and medicine. This issue had been widely consulted upon and with the help of local business entrepreneurs the business strategy had been created. It laid out that in order to attract Start-ups and Scale-ups, the Council needed to provide extensive affordable flexible office space. He added that the industrial strategy was thinking long term and would create many jobs in the decades to come.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS PRESENT:

1.     That Cabinet carefully considers the public consultation responses in Appendix 4.

2.     That Cabinet approves the SPD for adoption incorporating amendments following the public consultation.