The council leader was responding to the opposition leader’s outrage on behalf of objectors to the controversial partnership between Transport for London and developers Ballymore reports David Floyd.
On Thursday, council leader Barry Rawlings got into a heated argument with his Conservative counterpart over a big development in Edgware.
Cllr Rawlings expressed his displeasure during last week’s council cabinet meeting, when non-cabinet members were invited to question the cabinet, after opposition leader Peter Zinkin criticized the council for failing to take questions from campaigners opposing the TfL Ballymore development.
Cllr Zinkin told the meeting that he was “appalled” that Edgware residents were barred from asking questions directly because staff indicated “they had not applied in time”.
He criticized the “completely unfeeling, unlistening nature of this process,” which rendered the campaigners unable to speak, before calling the council’s approach “an absolute disgrace.”
However, the normally cordial Cllr Rawlings was clearly unimpressed by the outburst and drew attention to his opponents’ role in the Edgware development, responding: “I would point out that, obviously you know I’ve been a councillor for a while and this Edgware plan was originally your plan, the Conservatives.”
Regarding amendments to the TfL Ballymore plans following the election of his Labour administration, he stated: “We’ve decreased it; you wanted higher buildings. And the fact that this occurred was permitted by your administration in April 2022, before we were elected.”
“It’s nice to have a bit of acting”
In closing, the frustrated leader stated, “So while I like the fake rage and it’s nice to have a bit of acting: let’s be honest, this has resulted from your decisions as well as ours.”
The issue arose after the cabinet was asked to endorse a plan for £41.5 million that would ordinarily be owed to the council under the Community Infrastructure Levy as part of the TfL Ballymore development, but was instead designated for use by the developers on local infrastructure in the Edgware district.
In a statement last week, protest group Save Our Edgware stated the plan: “amounts to a developer clawback—using public money to underwrite a private scheme the developer itself has described as “unviable” without public help”
However, during the meeting, cabinet member for housing Ross Houston stated:
“What we’re not doing is handing over £41million of public funds to a developer, for example, which is one of the comments that I’ve seen on social media.”
The council’s strategic planning committee will debate plans for the Tfl Ballymore complex at its next meeting on July 14.
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