Harlow Council face £500,000 bill after failed bid to buy land
General / Mon 7th Feb 2022 at 09:19am
HARLOW residents could face a half million pound bill after a failed bid by the council to buy land as part of their regeneration plans.
In 2017, the then Labour-run Harlow Council announced plans to buy a parcel of land off London Road as part of the growing Enterprise Zone. (The old Nortel site).
This would be done under what is called a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).
However, the owners of the land, Powerrapid Ltd, objected.
The matter went to the courts in the form of a planning Inquiry.
Harlow Council lost the case and now face a bill of £468,069.65.
A Harlow Council spokesperson said: “Harlow Council has not been ordered to pay anything at this stage and the matter is subject to an appeal process.
“The council is appealing and is awaiting dates for further proceedings so therefore cannot comment further on this until all the relevant processes have been concluded.”
The portfolio holder for regeneration at the time was councillor Tony Durcan. We have sent out a number of questions to him and look forward to a response.
The full judgement is below.
https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Costs/2021/B23.html&query=(Harlow)
Ray
2022-02-07 09:38:46
To an average working class man such as I that seems an awful lot of money.
Marie Compton
2022-02-07 09:48:37
After the scandal of Lister House, the monorail, buying houses on the open market at 4 x the build price, lost grants, we now have another case of incompetence, recklessness and waste to add to the catalogue of Labour disasters. The scale is such, that one might question of something worse lurks behind. These Labour councillors should face liability for this. A independent enquiry needs to be held to flush out those responsible for this. It is an unacceptable waste and abuse of taxpayers money. A complete disgrace.
David Forman
2022-02-07 09:56:35
Harlow Council are going to waste more of our money on litigation by appealing the decision. Lawyers acting Powerrapid made these points: "the (Compulsory Purchase) Order had been made prematurely and that alternatives to compulsory purchase existed, including development of the land, consistent with the Council’s planning proposals, itself. "The Inspector held that a compelling case for development of the Order land in the short term had not been made out by the Council." If Harlow Council lose the appeal, costing taxpayers more money, I will expect to see the CEO Brian Keane tendering his resignation.
novoman
2022-02-07 10:00:22
To the average man the series of Labour bashing articles and letters looking like a party political strategy on the Tory party ahead of elections and to distract from partygate and the failures of Brexit, the same Tories who have great plans to turn Harlow into a mini city overloaded high rise high density town with 20 storey future slum flats and all the traffic from 10000 homes on Gilston estate running through to the motorway and Epping, not forgetting they are still backing the devastation of the Stort River Valley. A plague on both your houses, or rather on the 132000 the tories from the 5 tory councils plan to build to trash the town line the pockets of their donars, the property developers.
Edward Vine
2022-02-07 10:08:32
The fault is in the broken corrupted planning system. It's a system that works in favour of companies and property developers sitting on land simply waiting or capitalising on the value going up rather than for public good, the good of residents or that of environment. Large taxes rise year on year applied on companies sitting on land might work better than going to court.
Connie
2022-02-07 10:09:17
Novoman, Harlow Council does not control Downing Street or Brexit. These growing number of failed Labour projects costing £ millions for Harlow taxpayers are not distractions; they are facts and proof of abject failure and waste (if not worse). They should be investigated. How you can possibly defend such conduct. It is an outrage.How anyone could want these imbeciles back running the town just beggars belief.
Nicholas Taylor
2022-02-07 10:17:39
We in the Harlow Alliance Party feel it is only to right to 'call out' the abysmal waste of Council tax payers money when Labour were in control of the Council but one has to remember that the Tories whilst in opposition did little to challenge what was going on. Whether it was this case, what went on or indeed what did not go on in regard to the lack of progress on identified housing sites, the failure to object to the plans of EFDC for homes to the South and West of Harlow, Market Square, warehouses at Bynghams, Bushey Croft, Prentice Place ... it goes on and on. The May elections will soon be upon us, if residents fail to vote or keep on voting as they have, such issues will arise time and time again.
Observer
2022-02-07 10:24:58
The suggestion of a proper enquiry does make sense. The previous Labour administration has wasted so much on useless projects. Just look at the latest in the Market Square. The Town Centre has to be the worst in the region. Full of druggies and drunks. It is the pits. I hope the new Council can regenerate the Town and stop the rot after Labour’s failure.
Pauline S
2022-02-07 11:22:00
Well said Edward Vine. However, how much blame should rest on HDC staff? - we may never know. Are even Conservative Councillors not strong enough to cope?
David Forman
2022-02-07 18:18:13
The decision to proceed with a Compulsory Purchase Order following an objection by the landowner was taken despite warnings that "the costs of the CPO are likely to be significant" (Reports pack page 597). At the Cabinet meeting on 25 January 2018, Labour councillor Emma Toal proposed the motion to proceed and her Labour colleague Danny Purton seconded the motion. The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration responsible for overseeing this fiasco was Labour councillor Tony Durcan. See paragraph 117 of the minutes at https://moderngov.harlow.gov.uk/documents/g892/Public%20minutes%2025th-Jan-2018%2019.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=11
novoman
2022-02-07 21:04:12
Connie did you not notice I said "a plague on both your houses " Labour and Conservative because unless I missed it, the town has been in the hands of these two parties since forever. And, yes, government is to blame, they set the parameters of funding, grants and influence. Currently Brexit is still costing the earth, with disrupted supply chains and neither party has a half decent Climate change strategy. Locally Labour set the 2020 Development Plan and the tears the Conservatives shed are not even crocodile but of hysterical laughter, the can't believe Labour fell for it. Vote Green or Alliance at least their clear of blame and might take a fresh view.
Joss
2022-02-07 23:29:41
Novoman..thankyou for being a voice of reason... The political spin in Harlow right now is disgusting... Your reasoning cuts through it.. As does Mr Taylor of the Alliance party..Well done for standing up for ordinary Harlow people
The man
2022-02-08 09:26:21
Call me stupid if you want but we have local residents going around clearing up rubbish because the council does not have the manpower to do it, yet the can find huge sums of money for various vanity projects. I think they need reminding who’s money it is being spent and maybe the people supplying the money may prefer to have clean streets first.
novoman
2022-02-08 12:10:05
Anyone who watched the TV recently about the Queen and the changes over her reign would have seen how life was transformed for thousands when Harlow and the other new garden towns were built. Life and health were transformed from slum to decent homes and a job. Similarily Call the Midwife reminds us of anti vax or was it ignorance against the measles vaccine or the pre nhs situation where a doctor demanded cash on the nail for consultation. (£90 today as advertised by private health care companies).Timely reminders for those who lived it and an education for those who inherited the benefits. Also a lesson for our politicians, particularly here in Harlow and especially those who want to replicate the Victorian housing "boom": most of what the Victorians built for most of the population was absolute "crap" , worse housing than many ancient Brittons had and nowhere near the centrally underfloor heated villas the Roman's built in the UK Centuries ago. The "great" ideas to repurpose office blocks and build 3 twenty storey blocks of flats in town echoes the thinking of the Victorians who built slums for the majority who were overworked and underpaid, "What's the maximum profit?" . In all my comments I come back to reflect on that history, things should be 75 years experience better here. What do we see local politicians more intent on scoring points and spinning for power than working to enhance the quality of life on the principles, vision and aspirations upon which the town was built. People voted with their feet in support of that vision and moved here, if they wanted a high rise mini city they wouldn't have come. If Labour and Conservatives can't deliver and stick to those principles and the design vision then resign and make way for others who can.
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