Countryside Properties Gag attempts on Bourn Airfield Development

The allocation of Bourn Airfield in the 2014 draft Local Plan met with a lot of opposition, from the neighbouring parishes and me. There were several reasons as already stated in a number of my previous blog articles. The Planning Inspector subsequently found the plan sound, and the Council adopted it in October 2018. Despite this, Countryside Properties, the developers are determined to stop or severely curtail my involvement in shaping how the site gets built out going forward.  And it seems they will use any  and all means at their disposal to do this.

Brief History

In 2013 the then Conservative led South Cambs administration allocated Bourn Airfield in the draft Local Plan it was creating. I listened to my Ward residents, took on board their concerns and worked together with StopBAD to oppose the inclusion of Bourn Airfield in the local plan.

The draft Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in March 2014 for examination as required by government, and after some modifications were made by the Council and nearly four and a half years after it was first submitted, the Planning Inspector found the draft plan sound in September 2018. The new administration then adopted the plan at the full council meeting held on 27th September 2018.

I abstained from the vote at the meeting, and explained my reasons in my blog here. We lost the fight to remove it from the Local Plan, so next step is to shape how it gets built so it fits as best as it can with existing communities and find ways to mitigate the problems it would inevitably cause.

Prior to that vote, Countryside Properties, the proposers and developers of the new Bourn Village had made known to the Council their opposition to my new role as  the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning. They stated that they had taken Barrister’s legal advice on their position regarding my new role in the new administration in light of my well known opposition to the inclusion of the airfield in the local plan. Countryside indicated that as a result of that opposition, it felt that I had a prejudicial bias against it, and could not be objective and my new role meant I would have undue negative influence in the delivery of the new village. In short, they wanted me off the case or else …….

In order to avoid legal action  by Countryside and waste taxpayer’s money defending it, my cabinet colleagues and I decided to split the delivery of this policy from my Planning portfolio, and we appointed the Deputy Leader Cllr Dr Aidan van der Weyer to be in charge of its delivery. I could then continue to represent my Ward residents, which now included Bourn Airfield, without hindrance.

So far so good.

Current History

Whenever I attend meetings or workshops to discuss the new village, I make sure to declare that I am attending as the Ward Member, not the Cabinet Member for Planning. This seemed to work well until I attended the Scrutiny Meeting of the Council held on Thursday 21st May 2019, where the draft Bourn Airfield Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was discussed prior to its release for public consultation.

As usual, I declared that I was attending as Ward Member and then went on to present the issues that were of concern to the Ward.  Des O’Brien also attended the meeting to represent Bourn Parish Council. Between us both we presented concerns about transport, access to the site, separation between the site and Highfields Caldecote, location of village centre and location of schools.

The scrutiny committee debated the draft SPD in much detail and recommended to Cabinet that a number of changes should be made before the document is released for public consultation. The Cabinet was due to consider the SPD at its 5th June 2019 meeting to decide if it should go to public consultation or not. Again so far so good.

Imagine then my surprise when on the morning of Monday 3rd June 2019 at just past 9.00am, I received a telephone call from the Council’s legal officer to say Countryside had been on to them. My initial reaction was, “now what?” This time, their Barrister had advised them that they could make a formal complaint against me for not declaring at the last Scrutiny Meeting in May that I live in Caldecote!

However, they were prepared not to go forward with the complaint if I did not participate in the cabinet meeting scheduled for two days later because I might say something to sway my cabinet colleagues which might dissuade them from giving consent for the SPD to go to public consultation.

So far not so good. To say I saw red would be an understatement. They want me off the case … again!

Our legal officer and I talked further, and I told him which street I live on and how close to the airfield it was etc. etc. Whilst I take the “technical” point about making further clarification on where I live, frankly I feel it was nothing short of bullying for Countryside to tell the Council what meeting I should or should not be attending to represent my residents on the subject of Bourn Airfield. It pretty much amounts to developers having sway on how councillors should represent their Ward, an indirect gagging order if they feel we might say something they don’t like or not approve of, and in my opinion is an attempt to subvert the democratic process.

I was having none of that. It seems I cannot put a step right as far as Countryside Properties is concerned, and that my every word said or written is being monitored. I can only surmise that the concern this time is that their planning application submitted late 2018 cannot be determined until after the Council adopts the SPD. Nothing is to be allowed to stop a timely adoption of that document which is what the planning application will be measured against.

My Solution to the Objection

I informed the Council legal officer that I am prepared to defend myself and that I prefer that Countryside make the formal complaint because I did not want to feel beholden to their “supposed magnanimity”.

I also confirmed that I will not be gagged or bullied, and will attend the meeting and make a statement because it is my duty to the Ward residents who elected me and I will not shirk that duty.

After that chat, I prepared my  Statement of Declaration which you can read here which the legal officer approved as well as my  Statement of Response to the SPD which you can read here

You will also find both of these recorded in the minutes of the Cabinet meeting here.

I read the Statement of declaration at the start of the meeting, and then when called upon by the Leader at the start of the discussion on the SPD, read it out verbatim, and then removed myself from the cabinet table and sat with the public. I was in the room so I could hear the debate though I could not participate in it. But I had said my piece.

Conclusion

It is sign of the times, and of the mega bucks that is at stake in some of these new developments that developers are willing to use all means at their disposal, especially the threat of legal action, to dissuade the Council and/or councillors from going about their normal business or taking decisions they feel may not be in the best interest of their deep pockets.

They also know that Councils will be unwilling  to spend taxpayers money defending such cases.  Whilst I was extremely disappointed at this turn of events, I am glad that I was able to find a compromise that enabled me to make the case for Caldecote Ward residents on this very important matter, without putting the Council in legal harm’s way.

I have my written and approved declaration of interest which I shall endeavour to make sure I read out every time I attend any meeting where the subject of Bourn Airfield new village is on the agenda. But I cannot guarantee that Countryside and their esteemed and no doubt very expensive Barrister won’t find another stick to try to beat me with which may include the content of this article. I will cross that bridge if and when I come to it.