Investigation into Faraday Plaza debacle to be held behind closed doors

West Berkshire Council's Planning Advisory Group to look into matter after councillors were misled

ANY investigation into West Berkshire Council’s Faraday Plaza planning debacle will now be held in secret.

In February, planning officers were accused of misleading councillors on their decision to reject an application for the regeneration of the London Road Industrial Estate, which was subsequently overturned on appeal.

And when awarding costs to developer Faraday Development Ltd (FDL) the Planning Inspectorate accused officers of making misleading comments in their report on the development.

Calls for an investigation were put to the council’s overview and scrutiny commission last week, however members voted to refer the item to the planning advisory group, whose meetings are not held in public.

The request for an investigation was submitted by the council’s opposition leader Alan Macro with the aim of making future planning decisions more robust, to ensure the council does not lose planning appeals in such a way in the future, and also to ensure that the council does not incur unnecessary expenditure reimbursing planning applicants’ costs.

The chairwoman of the overview and scrutiny commission Emma Webster (Con, Birch Copse) said that the decision was taken to refer the item to the cross-party planning advisory group as “it was more suitable for them to look into”.

However, following the meeting Mr Macro said: “I’m disappointed... the planning advisory group meet behind closed doors so the discussions won’t be made public. I at least hope the conclusion will be.”

FDL director Duncan Crook said he was not surprised by the council’s decision and continued calls for a public and thorough investigation.