Thread by @Andrewwood17

An attempt is being made some Tower Hamlets businesses to divide the wider community in order to protect their commercial interests
This leaflet was delivered via a paid Royal Mail delivery organised by communications company based in Romford
Sent by 1st class mail just before
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Neighbourhood Plan referendum last week presumably to an area defined by Royal Mail, as sent to households not named individuals
As Royal Mail areas are quite large 1,000s of homes may have got it
But they are not allowed (by regulation) to spend more than £2,604 on campaign
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Will the anti-campaign report how much they spent to @TowerHamletsNow ?
Plus imprint on leaflet is also not fully compliant with electoral law & has been reported to the Council & Police (& I will report to the SET elections team later)
This raises a number of national issues
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The leaflet was designed to encourage voters to vote No to the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan
They almost succeeded
The yes vote in Spitalfields was 54% versus the 89% average yes vote in the 19 other referendums in London
Across the country there have been thousands of yes
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votes & a tiny handful of no votes (4 I am aware of for specific reasons)
This has been a very successful attempt to bring local people & businesses into the planning processes across the country
Except in Spitalfields
See here for background
neighbourhoodplanning.org
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Presumably, some businesses in that area wanted less planning controls over property they own & decided to organise & fund an anti-campaign
But I suspect based on their leaflet they were ignorant of what a Neighbourhood Plan can or cannot do & the regulations
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Businesses in the area also had a vote last Thursday in the referendum as well as residents
70 businesses voted no, 18 yes, it will be interesting to see what types of businesses voted no
But majority of residents voted yes
When there is a split vote like this Council decides
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Council can decide to go with residents Yes vote or business No vote
This will happen via a vote of Councillors in January we think (will be mentioned tonight in a full Council meeting which is why I am doing these tweets as background)
The business lobby is now attacking
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individuals involved in the Neighbourhood Plan as they lost the residents vote
So Councillors will need to decide
Do they support democracy & the residents Yes vote
or
Support a campaign based on mis-information, £££, lies & division?
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The key issue is what were the planning policies businesses were against?
I suspect they did not read the Plan
Neighbourhood Plans add extra planning policies that affect future planning applications
Pics show key points in the Neighbourhood Plan here
towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Plan…
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So the Neighbourhood Plan would only impact a business that owned land in the Neighbourhood Plan area that it wanted to re-develop
Cannot be used to stop development, does not over ride existing Council planning policy but does add specific extra local policies
Which of
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these policies stop development?
It is in businesses long term financial interest to ensure the Spitalfields area is a nice area to live in & visit as that will bring more business to them even if it means some limited constraints on individual planning applications
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I will now detail why the leaflet is full of lies / misinformation /misunderstanding of the Neighbourhood Planning process
I added red numbers to the picture to explain each point
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_…
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Pt 1 - 'handful of people' this is the list of people actively involved in the Plan
Both the Council (Mayor John Biggs and Cabinet) & the Independent Examiner Jill Kingaby would have failed the Plan & stopped a referendum had they believed it was serving the interests of a few
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Pt 2 - the Spitalfields plan area has different boundaries to the Spitalfields & Banglatown ward - it had a different name in order to make clear it covered a different area
Only the Boundary Commission & the Council can change ward names not Neighbourhood Plans
Ironically
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tonight the Council is looking at changing ward names but this came about because of recommendations from the Labour Party not a Neighbourhood Plan
democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s194…
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Pt 3 - the borders only apply on a planning map & that map only applies to planning applications = cannot create any division except to developers
Many such planning borders already exist (see the Council Local Plan map)
These are largely invisible
towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Plan…
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Pt 4 - Is this why businesses paid for this leaflet? - it does add some extra planning policies to any business that wants to make major changes to the outside of its building or redevelop it
Has no impact on other small businesses except to provide more affordable workspace
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Pt 5 - this is an old lie & ignores the Local Infrastructure Fund consultation run by Tower Hamlets Council on where to spend 25% of any Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) £ received from developers
talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lif
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The Neighbourhood Plan can make recommendations as well (see pic for their preferred projects) but ultimately Council Officers make the decisions not the Neighbourhood Plan
Most LIF £ spent on officer chosen projects so far not what residents want
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Pt 6 - a naked appeal to divide the community of the area to protect a few businesses commercial interests
And mostly incorrect - Neighbourhood Plans have limted powers within the planning system
Nothing to do with identity, rights, ability to influence etc etc
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Pt 7 Another lie by people who have a commercial interest who if they had actually bothered to read the Neighbourhood Plan would have seen it was in their long term business interest
This leaflet damages the community by creating fear and division through lies
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This raises a number of national issues for @luhc about the conduct of referendums when an anti-campaign (extremely rare) may have overspent spending limits, did not provide a clear imprint & provides misleading information
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Last point is what will the Council & Councillors now do in response?
They should make it clear they support the resident Yes vote & support the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan - and oppose any division
@SpitalfieldsNPF @ELAdvertiser @EastEndEnquirer
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