The LGO says in paragraph 21 (23 of her final draft) of her first draft:
The Council considered this and decided not to enforce. Enforcement is discretionary and the Council explained to residents in great detail how it reached its decision. It explained the law and policy it considered. There is no need for me to repeat this. It decided the degree of departure from the plans – less than one metre – was “non-material.”
Mr Mansbridge in his letter to residents in response to our Petition:
The measurements which the Council took on 17th September 2014 are:
• Height at the River Drive end 15.5m and at the riverside end 18m.
• Length 22.254m;
• Width 13.1m;
Apart from the width these dimensions are either entirely in accordance with the approved plan, or subject to such minor deviation that they are properly categorised as non-material changes.
Not only is there some confusion about whether the increase in width is material, Mr Mansbridge does not tell the residents what drawing he is using, it could be either 1A or 1B, and he does not send a copy of it with the letter but I can tell you which ever it is, it also shows the height of the riverside end as 15.5m. Three meters extra height is a material difference.
Requirement to improve the structural stability of the shelter by taking the steelwork to ground level has resulted in it being constructed to a width of 13.1m when measured at ground level.
As said elsewhere the footings for the columns were laid in 2001 and that they were laid nearly a meter wider than planned. If the extra width was a requirement to improve the structural stability then this would appear to be dictated by the extra height of the shelter and making the pillars vertical (3m) rather than anything else. The point he makes about it being wider implies that plans were being made in 2001 to make it wider and taller. Who signed off the work done in 2001?
That the extra width and making the side vertical allows the crane to fit nicely into the framework is surely more than a coincidence.
Dimensions of the shelter are as measured by the Council in September: Length 22.254m; Width 13.1m;Height at end facing River Drive 15.5m
All the plans show a planned width of 12.2m for the shelter so it is built nearly a meter wider than planned. This not what STC have been saying for the previous four months.
I have estimated that that the width of structure is 13.2m the drawings detail 12.2m.
The Planning Office were saying that “The dimensions of the steelwork have been checked on site and they are in accordance with the measurements shown on the approved drawings. The variation in the angle of the pillars is not considered to be material”.
This was in January 2014 – they had known the width of the shelter to be 13.1m since September.
built without planning permission
