Writing to Redbridge Councillors today regarding the stop the Tesco Toxic Towers unlimited costs order

 The below was sent today to all Redbridge Councillors, Sam Tarry & Keith Prince

Dear Councillors, Sam Tarry and Keith Prince

Jas was right to reverse register cover up, next U-turn must be the unlimited costs order on the Stop The Tesco Toxic Towers Judicial Review

Last November I challenged Jas’s shameful decision to use the murder of MPs as an excuse not to publish the name of his employer and other information on his register of interests. Rather than await a decision from the Information Commissioner’s Office I discovered that Jas has made the very welcome decision to publish the information I sought on his register yesterday (I don’t know the exact date when the register was updated)

I write to you today to ask you to contact Jas to suggest he make another U-turn. This time on his decision to pursue me for unlimited costs in the stop the Tesco Toxic Towers judicial review.

The Council accept the Judicial Review falls under the rules of the UN Aarhus convention. The convention states that the public have the right to sue the government without the fear of crippling legal costs if they lose.

If the court accept the Council’s application for unlimited costs I will have to withdraw. It will not be just my voice that will be silenced, it will also be local vulnerable children who suffer from diseases linked to air pollution who will not be heard. Two schools, Chadwell Primary and Barley Lane Primary objected to the Tesco Toxic Towers on air quality grounds

If the Tesco Toxic Towers are built there will be 52 HGV trips a day for five years per page A377 of our core bundle (available at my stop The Tesco Toxic Towers blog post dated 18^th July 2022 titled Recorder letter: Toxic Towers campaigners want fair deal for most vulnerable). The Councillors were not told how many other HGV trips would be made each day as a consequence of the Homebase development and other High Rise “slums of the future” when the planning committee met to make their decision.

No attempt has been made to estimate the cumulative impact of so many HGVs on school children during high pollution alert days and so unsurprisingly the Council refused my request for a planning condition to stop construction HGVs before 6am on high pollution days. There are not many such days, so this seems an irresponsible refusal to me. Whether it will also be unlawful we will never know if the Council win an unlimited costs order because I will have to withdraw.

If you agree with me that the Council should not be pursing an unlimited costs order perhaps you can write to Jas about this.

Should you wish to donate to the legal fund to stop the Tesco Toxic Towers please go to my twitter pinned tweet.

 

Regards

 

Andy Walker

120 Blythswood Road IG3 8SG

07956 263088