Charteris Road Car Park - What does the Cabinet have in mind?

10.31.00pm GMT Sun 9th Dec 2007

We reported in October (see news story October 2nd) that the Cabinet had been forced to rethink its land sales strategy, particularly in connection with the Woodford car park sites. This followed the presentation of petitions against the sale of the Derby Road car park in South Woodford and the Charteris Road car park and Woodford Library sites, and the full Council's resolution to ensure that the impact of any proposed redevelopment is assessed and residents properly consulted before completion. Geoff Seeff has now received a letter from Cllr Linda Huggett which appears to contradict this position and, therefore, reawakens our concerns over high density development on these sites.

Cllr Huggett's letter, received on 27th November, was in response to Geoff's letter of 11th September - particularly unimpressive considering that she is the Cabinet member with responsibility for Communications. In it she states the Cabinet's intention to respect the development brief restrictions on the massing of any building but concludes rather chillingly "…..not everyone will agree with all of the decisions that the Council will need to take for the long-term future of Redbridge as a whole, particularly where those decisions need to balance local and borough wide interests to ensure future service delivery for the benefit of all Redbridge's businesses and residents". At the Area 2 committee meeting on 27th November Geoff asked Cllr Huggett whether the development brief was legally binding. We established that it wasn't - which means that, if the Cabinet found it expedient and needed to raise additional funds for projects to which it was committed, consent to more dense development than presently envisaged could be permitted.

Geoff has always been concerned that development within the restrictions of the brief is would not be commercially viable, and, therefore, the sale of the Charteris Road car park and Woodford Library sites would be unlikely to generate the proceeds required by the Cabinet to fund its projects in Central Ilford. Rising construction in London and static if not falling house prices would make development an even less attractive proposition unless densities were increased. Accordingly, he has written again to Cllr Huggett asking her to confirm that the Council's current appraisals for residential development of the sites indicate a residual land value in the order of that included with the Capital Programme 2006/12 and that the appraisals, based on the brief, take into account the costs to a developer of replacing the library, re-provisioning the public car parking and incorporating a standard proportion of social housing.

We await a response!!!!!!!