Date: 30/10/2019 (07:34:05 AM GMT)
To: Emma Lewell-Buck MP
Cc: Cllr Angela Hamilton, Cllr David Francis, Cllr Anglin, Nicola Robason
Dear Emma,
Dishonesty at the Town Hall
First of all I would like to thank Angela and yourself for getting UK Docks to concede that the enclosure (shed) on River drive was in breach of planning control from the very beginning. However they have exchanged one misrepresentation for another, the first being; that the shed was built according to approved plans and the second; that they had applied for and been granted permission retrospectively for the shed we now see.
For those that are new to this let me repeat what should be a given; the authorised drawing from 1996 states quite clearly that the shed is nearly thirteen meters high at the landward end giving a height at river end of fifteen and a half meters.
There were unapproved drawing produced by UK Docks in the early days which showed the landward end to have this height as well but they were incorrectly dimensioned and should have been discarded from any honest consideration about the planned height of the shed from the outset but they were not and eventually ended up being used to misrepresent the height to the Local Government Ombudsman.
The same cannot be said about the width. The shed is nearly a meter wider than planned and this along with the difference in height should have been picked up by Building Control within hours of the shed being measured some time in September 2013. It was not, and the Council have maintained the lie that the shed was built in accordance with the approved plans, until December 2018, in fact.
Since then they have remained silent about UK Docks except for a copy of an email redirecting or shifting the blame, from Building Control back onto Planning:
“Hi Planning
Please see attached and email below which I believe was meant for planning
Regards”
Debbie Graham Operations & Partnership Officer, 17-Sep-19
It has not been a planning matter since the Planning Manager conceded in February 2014 that the shed was in fact nearly 3m taller than planned. He had conceded the point about it being too wide the month before.
After Angela’s and your meeting with UK Docks in March or April 2019 they are now putting it about that the Council gave them permission, retrospectively, for the shed we now see:
“Angela has talked to several relevant people, and the point is the council gave retrospective planning. Which they are allowed to do. We are working with Angela to negate further issues with the site.”
Concerned Resident, 1-May-19
I asked the Council to confirm this in May but they have they have not even acknowledged the request. With your help I have managed to shift the argument from whether UK Docks’ boat shed was built with planning permission to one that it had not but the Council had granted them permission for it retrospectively. Like the earlier tale that it had been approved, it is not true. In layman’s terms they, UK Docks and the Council, have replaced one lie with another.
Thank you again and good luck with the hustings. Have the Council/Labour group decided who they are going to put up against you?
Yours sincerely
Michael Dawson.
Clarification: The authorised drawing from 1996 (8296/2) states quite clearly that the shed is nearly thirteen meters high at the landward end giving a height at river end of fifteen and a half meters.
There was an unapproved drawing produced by UK Docks in the early days (8296/1B) which showed the landward end to have this height as well which cannot true because the shed is built on a slipway and there is a 2.7m height difference between each end and the shed does not slope down towards the river by the same gradient.
It was replaced by the Principal Planning Officer in November 2013 by another unapproved drawing (8296/1A) but switched back to 8296/1B when the shortcomings of 8296/1A were explained to the Ombudsman in March 2015.