The agreement between the Friends of Kensal Rise Library and All Souls College and Andrew Gillick of Kensal Properties Ltd has been widely welcomed as it provides D1 space for a community library in exchange for support for that aspect of the developer's planning application. LINK
Clearly to have got this far is a tremendous achievement for a campaign that has kept going through thick and thin, including dawn raids by both Brent Council and the developers and the demolition of the pop up library.
The main fly in the ointment is that police investigations into alleged fraudulent emails has still not been concluded. As the outcome of the investigation is not yet known, and criminal proceedings against persons yet unknown are possible, it seems clear to many that the planning application should not be heard until the matters is cleared up once for all. It would be a disaster if the planning application, incorporating the community space agreement, was heard and was successful, only to be thrown into doubt by court proceedings.
The alleged fraud was perpetrated not just against Brent Council and the planning department, but also against those whose identities were stolen or hijacked. The question remains: who stood to benefit?
Other reservations voiced over Twitter during the afternoon concerned thecommunity library being accessed via a door cut into a chimney flue, rather than the main building door and the amount of main space used as a circulation area restricting flexibility of use. There was also worry that the agreement is far from watertight with the developer treating the Friends of Kensal Rise Library as preferred tenant for a limited period only.
The campaign wll continue until a satisfactory outcome is safely in the bag.
Clearly to have got this far is a tremendous achievement for a campaign that has kept going through thick and thin, including dawn raids by both Brent Council and the developers and the demolition of the pop up library.
The main fly in the ointment is that police investigations into alleged fraudulent emails has still not been concluded. As the outcome of the investigation is not yet known, and criminal proceedings against persons yet unknown are possible, it seems clear to many that the planning application should not be heard until the matters is cleared up once for all. It would be a disaster if the planning application, incorporating the community space agreement, was heard and was successful, only to be thrown into doubt by court proceedings.
The alleged fraud was perpetrated not just against Brent Council and the planning department, but also against those whose identities were stolen or hijacked. The question remains: who stood to benefit?
Other reservations voiced over Twitter during the afternoon concerned thecommunity library being accessed via a door cut into a chimney flue, rather than the main building door and the amount of main space used as a circulation area restricting flexibility of use. There was also worry that the agreement is far from watertight with the developer treating the Friends of Kensal Rise Library as preferred tenant for a limited period only.
The campaign wll continue until a satisfactory outcome is safely in the bag.