Agenda item

8.59pm – Councillor Andrew Jones moved, seconded by Councillor Lisa Homan, the special motion in their names:

“This Council notes the decision of the Secretary of State for Housing and Local Communities to call in the planning application for Edith Summerskill House on the Clement Attlee Estate in Fulham. This decision prevents the construction of 133 new homes for residents, the vast majority of which are urgently needed genuinely affordable or temporary housing. The Council notes that after an unnecessary deliberation which took 9 months, the housing scheme is now further delayed for up to 4 years and the replacement of affordable homes under threat. With respect to this decision, this Council further notes:

·      The Council and its partners have invested significant resources into replacing an uninhabitable building with social rented homes of the highest quality;

·      The call-in purports to be on the grounds of a tall building, but the new building is of very similar height and dimensions to the building it replaces;

·      The project has been granted planning permission after extensive consultation, and has the approval of the GLA and the Mayor of London;

·      The eleventh-hour call-in delay has a severely negative impact on the Council’s finances – it will delay the provision of 105 temporary housed households which will cost the Council on average £175,000 per month;

·      Further delays will severely impact the lives of over-crowded families and those on the housing register waiting for an offer of permanent accommodation;

·      By creating this delay the Government is imposing a further £840,000 to £1.26m to the overall costs of the project;

·      The Council will also have to continue to fund 24/7 site security at a cost of £8,000 per month;

·      Peabody, who are the final developer/operator, have also spent £1.5m to date; and

·      The delay threatens the project’s overall finances as some of the funding will time-out.

This Council further notes that Edith Summerskill was identified under the previous Conservative administration as an affordable/private tenure redevelopment and the current scheme is little different to that which has been proposed for nearly a decade.

The Council therefore calls upon the Government to cancel this unjustified, costly and detrimental eleventh-hour decision and to allow the scheme to proceed in order to deliver much need genuinely affordable housing.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Jones, Homan, Holder, and Rowbottom (for the Administration) and Councillors Thorley and Karmel (for the Opposition).

Councillor Jones made a speech winding up the debate before the motion was put to the vote.

FOR                        33

AGAINST                10

NOT VOTING         0

The motion was declared CARRIED.

9.32pm – RESOLVED

This Council notes the decision of the Secretary of State for Housing and Local Communities to call in the planning application for Edith Summerskill House on the Clement Attlee Estate in Fulham. This decision prevents the construction of 133 new homes for residents, the vast majority of which are urgently needed genuinely affordable or temporary housing. The Council notes that after an unnecessary deliberation which took 9 months, the housing scheme is now further delayed for up to 4 years and the replacement of affordable homes under threat. With respect to this decision, this Council further notes:

·      The Council and its partners have invested significant resources into replacing an uninhabitable building with social rented homes of the highest quality;

·      The call-in purports to be on the grounds of a tall building, but the new building is of very similar height and dimensions to the building it replaces;

·      The project has been granted planning permission after extensive consultation, and has the approval of the GLA and the Mayor of London;

·      The eleventh-hour call-in delay has a severely negative impact on the Council’s finances – it will delay the provision of 105 temporary housed households which will cost the Council on average £175,000 per month;

·      Further delays will severely impact the lives of over-crowded families and those on the housing register waiting for an offer of permanent accommodation;

·      By creating this delay the Government is imposing a further £840,000 to £1.26m to the overall costs of the project;

·      The Council will also have to continue to fund 24/7 site security at a cost of £8,000 per month;

·      Peabody, who are the final developer/operator, have also spent £1.5m to date; and

·      The delay threatens the project’s overall finances as some of the funding will time-out.

This Council further notes that Edith Summerskill was identified under the previous Conservative administration as an affordable/private tenure redevelopment and the current scheme is little different to that which has been proposed for nearly a decade.

The Council therefore calls upon the Government to cancel this unjustified, costly and detrimental eleventh-hour decision and to allow the scheme to proceed in order to deliver much need genuinely affordable housing.