Issue - meetings

A Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A Member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

A deputation was received from Mr Mario Petrou in relation to the Tottenham Area Actions Plan, Site Allocations DPD and housing targets for the borough set out in the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Plan.

Mr Petrou began by noting that in addition to his deputation to Cabinet he had also made written representations to the Assistant Director Planning and the GLA regarding his concerns in relation to the above. Mr Petrou acknowledged that the Council had expressed concern regarding the increase in the GLA target for new housing in the borough and suggested that this should be reiterated. He also noted that more affluent and less densely populated London Boroughs were being asked to meet new housing targets lower than those set for Haringey.

Mr Petrou also contended that planning documents used by the Council were inconsistent and that figures and information contained within them were misleading. He noted that he had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in order to obtain clarification as to how the figures were determined.

Mr Petrou noted that he and the signatories to the deputation wanted to see a harmonisation of Haringey’s planning policies and the introduction of an indicator around the impact of HMOs upon neighbouring properties.

In conclusion Mr Petrou noted that he had made a Deputation to Council in July 2013 where he had highlighted areas where he considered that there were inconsistencies in figures upon which planning policies were based and that he felt that these had not been properly responded to by Members.

The Leader thanked Mr Petrou for his deputation and noted that there were no questions from Cabinet Members.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Councillor Demirci, responded to Mr Petrou’s deputation and began by thanking him for attending the meeting. Councillor Demirci noted that there was currently a consultation process underway in relation to site allocations and that he would present a report to Cabinet in the Autumn setting out the outcomes of this. He noted that, as Mr Petrou stated, the Council had formally responded to the GLA’s consultation on the London Plan and that this could be viewed on the GLA’s website.

Councillor Demirci noted that, along with all of the London Boroughs, Haringey would need to play a role in delivering the new housing that was required in the capital. With regard to Mr Petrou’s assertion that data used to inform planning polices and information supplied to the GLA was incorrect Councillor Demirci noted that planning officers had already responded to Mr Petrou on this point.

In conclusion Councillor Demirci noted that he would be engaging with stakeholders over the Autumn as the second phase of consultation took place on the site allocations and that as part of this he would be happy to meet with Mr Petrou.