Lobbying GLA planning reps to support call for Tesco Application to called in by the Mayor
I wrote to the all the GLA planning committee members earlier today to seek their support. One Sian Berry has already written to the Mayor asking him to call in the Tesco application.
If we can get all the committee members to write to the Mayor it will be a major step forward for the campaign.
My focus is on three pieces of information to help our campaign, 1) the monies payable by Tesco to Redbridge Council for pre-application advice 2) The latest 106 agreement between Redbridge and Tescos which is expected to be the stage 2 referral letter due to be published this autumn 3) Full postcodes for child deaths associated with air pollution. Sam Tarry mention air quality and his concerns for the impact on child health in his letter to the Mayor copied below.
The diseases associated with air pollution I sought (and am seeking other other NHS trusts) are
a) Cancer with a breakdown of types, for example
Leukemia
Brain and spinal cord tumour
Neuroblastoma
Wilms tumour
Lymphoma (including both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin)
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Retinoblastoma
Bone cancer
b) Otitis media
c) All Acute lower respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
d) Meningitis
The BHRUT stats shows 18 child deaths in the year before lockdown and just 2 after lockdown when the reduced traffic led to a large decrease in air pollution. There was also a sharp decrease in diagnosing the conditions above from 769 before lockdown to 203 during lockdown. The statistics need further work to discover if they are representative of England as a whole. Some of the reduction will be due to parents not taking children to A&E, the purpose of any further work would be to disentangle parental reluctance to attend A&E and the impact of reduced pollution. Full postcode publication of child deaths would assist with any investigation. The stats are at Information on Child Cancers & other illnesses - a Freedom of Information request to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust - WhatDoTheyKnow
The members we need to lobby for support are:
Andrew Boff andrew.boff@london.gov.uk
Sakina Sheikh sakina.sheikh@london.gov.uk
Elly Baker elly.baker@london.gov.uk
Emma Best emma.best@london.gov.uk
My email to the GLA members sent earlier today is below. One email will not have a big impact, but every email sent to them will have a cumulative effect,
Dear GLA planning committee members,
Sian Berry AM, Keith Prince AM and Sam Tarry MP have all written to Sadiq Khan to ask him to call in the above development. Should you be sympathetic to the case for calling in, I would be grateful for your help in obtaining the following pieces of information:
1. The Stage 2 referral letter from Redbridge Council to the GLA, which is due to be sent this Autumn, according to Anna vanOverbeke, a senior planning officer at Redbridge Council. The Stage 2 referral letter is expected to contain the latest version of the Section 106 agreement between Redbridge Council and Tescos. The 106 agreement presented to councillors in May 2021, when they passed the Tescos application, was an outline of the agreement with the full details yet to be negotiated. I argue that for residents and elected representatives to make meaningful representations to Sadiq Khan, this Stage 2 letter needs to be published in full on the day that it is sent to the Mayor. It also has to be sent to all objectors to the development to give them the opportunity to make meaningful representations to the Mayor.
2. The amount paid by Tescos and/or their agents to Redbridge Council for pre-application advice. My Freedom of Information request for how much money has been paid to Redbridge Council by Tesos and/or their agents has failed so far, although it is the subject of an appeal. Councillors sit on planning committees in a quasi-judicial role. As a consequence they cannot personally take money from developer. However, when it comes to the 106 agreement, councillors delegate their duties to officers. It appears that Redbridge Council has taken substantial pre-application advice fees from Tescos and/or their agents, which allows meetings between the developer and the officers to further the Tesco application. It would be completely unacceptable for a judge to have secret meetings with developers, take a fee for such meetings and then decide whether to grant permission. So I am bewildered that the law allows such payments to Councils by developers.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying that any party has engaged in any wrong-doing, however, I am saying that the amount of money paid in this instance needs to be published. This would allow residents to lobby their elected representatives to outlaw such payments, as they clearly undermine public confidence in the neutrality of the planning process.
3. The full postcodes of child death and sickness statistics to be disclosed. There is substantial evidence that living close to busy roads is bad for health, especially child health. This motivated me to write to BHRUT, the trust that manages King George and Queens hospitals, responsible for the children close to the Goodmayes Tesco site, for child mortality and sickness statistics. The information I sought related to child deaths and sickness associated with air pollution for the 12 months immediately preceding lockdown in March 2020 and the 12 months after this date. BHRUT supplied information regarding child deaths and sickness which showed a dramatic reduction during the lockdown. There were 18 child deaths in 2019-20 and 2 child deaths in 2020-21from causes associated with air pollution. BHRUT is not supplying the full postcodes of where the children lived who died and the partial postcodes I have been given do not allow me to check the proximity of them to busy roads. I have sought similar information from two other London NHS Trusts, Cornwall NHS Trust and Birmingham NHS Trust with a view to discovering if the BHRUT statistics are representative of what has happened in England as a whole. There is already guidance at the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, Quality Standard 181, regarding how close new developments may be constructed next to busy roads (including schools). This has been raised at the GLA when Caroline Pidgeon AM asked the Mayor the following:
Will you look at strengthening the air quality provisions in the London Plan to actively discourage new schools, care homes or health clinics being located near existing air pollution hotspots?
His response was:
Yes. Schools, Care Homes and health clinics house some of the most vulnerable members of our society, as such special care needs to be taken to make sure they are located in the most suitable locations.
I will ensure that the new London Plan reflects the best information about air pollution in London and works with the London boroughs to make sure that the most sensitive developments are only allowed in suitable areas, while I continue to work to improve air quality for all Londoners.
The provision of full postcodes would be a first step towards establishing more effective benchmarks to identify where new developments can or cannot be safely placed, through the commissioning of an academic study by the Mayor to investigate the links between living by busy roads and child deaths. The Mayor would then be able to recommend legally binding benchmarks for preventing the building of schools and housing by busy roads to the Secretary of State. In the short term, the Goodmayes Tesco development should be called in to determine whether its location is too toxic for housing and school provision.
The Stop the Tesco Toxic Towers Campaign has a public meeting on 6th September at 8 pm at a church hall an online via Zoom. If you are supportive, it would be great if you could attend the meeting. Speakers at the meeting include Green, Liberal Democrat and TUSC members, so it would be most welcome to have Labour and Conservative speakers too.
As well as any assistance you may be able to give in seeking the three pieces of information above, I hope very much that you will follow the example of Sian, Keith and Sam and write to the Mayor, asking him to call in the application for the development.
Regards
Andy Walker
120 Blythswood Road
Ilford
Essex
IG3 8SG
07956 263088
https://stopthetescotoxictowers.blogspot.com
BHRUT statistics at Information on Child Cancers & other illnesses - a Freedom of Information request to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust - WhatDoTheyKnow
Sam Tarry MP letter to the Mayor follows below which mentions child health and air pollution
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