KKG – Document 89      KKG – Document 90

Dear Neighbour

So, two-and-a-half months after it was first agreed to on 25 November:

( see https://keepkemptongreen.com/2014/12/07/public-meeting-but-when/ )

and a staggering seven-and-a-half months since the Kempton Park cat was let out of the bag by the men from A2D on 8 July:

( see https://keepkemptongreen.com/2014/07/10/mr-concrete/ )

there is to be a public meeting on Tuesday 3 February 2015, to “clarify issues and misunderstandings relating to Kempton Park”. (see your invitation, Document 90 attached).

At that 8 July meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Evans demanded “a statement from, certainly from the Chief Executive of this Council, and probably from the Leader of this Council, that they are unaware of this, or they are aware, one or the other …”.

“This”, in the context of the rather heated discussion, meant proposals by the Jockey Club to build on Green Belt at Kempton Park. What we got instead was a statement from the Head of Planning, answering a different – much narrower – question: What did the Council know about Redrow’s involvement in this wider proposal by The Jockey Club? This whole extended exchange about Kempton Park, lasting more than ten minutes, was completely absent from the published minutes of the meeting.

KKG complained. The minutes were amended to include some of what was said, and it was agreed, on September 10, that the Chief Executive and Leader would provide a statement “as a matter of urgency”. As you will be beginning to understand, time moves in a different dimension at Knowle Green when they want it to. A “matter of urgency” turned out to mean four weeks.

And even then we weren’t finished. The Leader, Councillor Watts, claimed to have read about Redrow’s involvement in a publication of the Institution of Civil Engineers. It turned out there was no such mention of Redrow in any issues of that publication. So the joint statement was reissued on 11 November, saying Councillor Watts had just “read about it”.

It turned out this too was incorrect. Despite exhaustive searches and enquiries, nothing could be found in the public domain which mentioned Redrow’s involvement. Redrow and The Jockey Club also denied, in terms, that there had ever been anything published about it.

And now there is this 3 February “public information event”. Doors open at 6:15, with information boards and Council staff on hand. A Q&A session will start at 7pm. Please submit your questions in advance to Kempton@spelthorne.gov.uk by 23 January and/or bring them along to the meeting. Come one, come all. This Kempton Park development concerns everyone who lives round here, whether in Spelthorne or not. Please book your place at the same email address, or just turn up on the night.

Oh, and finally, consider Document 89, attached. It is an email circulated at Knowle Green on 24 December. Particularly the final paragraph:

“The structure of the event is being worked on and the benefits and disadvantages of having it facilitated by an impartial person are being investigated. We shall be considering a range of potential chairs and a decision – taken with the involvement of the Sunbury East councillors – will be made in the first weeks of January.”

Well, there was only one way that question of impartiality was going to go, was there not. The Chair will be none other than Roberto Tambini, Chief Executive and the person with most questions to answer.

Funny, that.

Thanks to all those who have signed the petition over the Christmas break. If you have not yet signed, please go to

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/keepkemptongreen

or follow the links at http://www.keepkemptongreen.com

 

Kind regards
Keep Kempton Green