Council could face investigation over 'witholding' crucial planning document

Senior councillor taking legal advice after 'unsatisfactory' response to his complaint

WEST Berkshire Council could face an investigation after a crucial piece of information about a major planning application was ‘withheld’ from councillors.

Councillor Tony Vickers (Lib Dem, Wash Common) is furious that members of the western area planning committee, of which he is vice-chairman, did not have access to the vital document relating to plans to replace the former Newbury Weekly News offices with flats.

After receiving what he described as an “unsatisfactory and uncredible” response to his original complaint, Mr Vickers said he is now taking legal advice on the matter.

He is considering taking it to the Local Government Ombudsman, which deals with complaints against local councils that are unable to be resolved.

On February 5, on the advice of officers, the western area planning committee refused plans to demolish Newspaper House in Faraday Road and build apartments in its place.

However, Mr Vickers said that the decision was “flawed” – because members were not shown an important letter beforehand.

Officers recommended that the plans, submitted by Newspaper Holdings Ltd – which is a separate, unconnected company from NWN owner Newbury News and Media Ltd – be rejected over concerns about the potential for the site to flood – a conclusion they had come to based on a sequential test.

However, in a written opinion shared with the council in October 2019, the applicant’s QC, Robert Walton, advised that the criticisms of the sequential test were “misconceived”.

But this document was not circulated to councillors prior to the meeting, nor was it uploaded to the council’s planning portal – where members of the public can view applications.

Instead, the director of Pro Vision, Steven Smallman, acting on behalf of the applicant, sent an email to councillors making them aware of its existence.

After the meeting, Mr Vickers made a formal complaint to the council’s monitoring officer, questioning why councillors did not receive the information until the day before it was debated, even though it had been submitted months before.

And speaking at a virtual meeting of Newbury Town Council’s planning and highways committee on Monday, he said he received an “uncredible” response.

Mr Vickers said: “I asked why, despite the minutes from the February 5 meeting recorded correctly showing a resolution was passed to refuse planning permission, yet no decision notice had been issued after 12 whole weeks, which led to the applicant lodging an appeal for non-determination.

“I had already lodged a formal complaint on February 6 against the planning and legal department of the district council for withholding a vital document from members.

“It took until May 15 for the monitoring officer to respond to my request. I do not regard her response as satisfactory and I am taking legal advice from the LGA [Local Government Association] on the matter.

“My ward member Adrian Abbs has asked for his name to be added as a co-complainant.

“We are accusing the council of disrespect to its own members in failing to explain why a resolution of a committee of the council was not implemented.”

Mr Vickers added: “The explanation, in summary, was that the document in question, yes it was a mistake that it wasn’t put on the planning portal, but they said it was not sufficiently important to make any difference to the decision members made even if it had been available, which I find unbelievable as it was a document written by the applicant’s own QC, legal counsel, that addressed the very matter we were being asked to decide the application on.”