Today in the High Court Mr Justice Sullivan decided against our judicvial review of Camden Council’s grant of planning permission for Argent’s scheme. Full details of the judgement will follow. In the mean time…. we have to find £10,000 and you can help with that at www.kxrlg.org.uk
Some further comments….
In the Mean time my initial reactions are…
(i) a court of law is not a good place to deal with the emotional / power relations issues surrounding decisions by elected councillors. Those who were here at the November 06 meeting all speak of the very strong pressure which was being exerted on the councillors NOT to re-visit their predecessors’ decision of March. The ourt today found that they were – on the whole – correctly advised and that they could have changed the council’s mind…… but I do not think the court was able to appreciate the emotional pressure and the sense of awe / threat….
(ii) It does, though, affirm that elected members must have the courage of their convictions and stand up against their officers if they have good grounds.
(iii) it also brings home to me how much time it would take for an elected councillor (or anyone else) to get really to the bottom of a complex project. And having a week or so to digest 900 pages of info is not an adequate basis for expecting them to make well-informed decisions.
michael edwards 