Boris Crossrail cash row - anger at Mayor’s intervention over Saatchi & Saatchi HQ in Fitzrovia

Published: 01 July 2011
by DAN CARRIER

LONDON’S Tory Mayor Boris Johnson has been accused of a cynical money-grabbing move at the expense of social housing as he seeks to overturn a decision by the Town Hall to block a controversial £100million redevelopment in the heart of Fitzrovia.

Mr Johnson has called in a decision by Camden Council’s planning committee to stop the redevelopment of the head offices of advertising firm Saatchi and Saatchi – renowned for working on Conservative Party election campaigns – by developers Derwent. 

In May the scheme, which would have seen 55 flats, offices, shops and extra storeys on the site on the corner of Charlotte Street and Whitfield Street, was thrown out by the council as it failed to meet planning obligations to provide affordable homes in an area that needs more social housing.

People living nearby had also complained that the project would be too large and lacked open space.

As part of a section 106 agreement drawn up with the developers, which sees the owners of the site offer cash or housing in order to get their schemes recommended,  Derwent had been asked to by City Hall to contribute £1.6million towards the Crossrail, pan-London underground train scheme. This meant the levels of social housing they were able to offer on the site fell dramatically.

Camden Town and Primrose Hill ward Labour councillor Tom Neumark, who is on the planning committee, said the Mayor’s wish to review their decision was undemocratic and he believed it been called in  because City Hall wanted the Crossrail money.

He said: “We threw out this plan because it lacked affordable homes and open space and faced serious objections from people living there. It did not fit our policy. The Mayor insisted on taking the maximum contribution from the developers for Crossrail which means the developer could offer little else.”

In the past, he said, a development of this type would have had grants from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency to help bolster the number of affordable homes offered but, under the current government, the money had disappeared. 

He added: “This simply goes against the wishes of people who live there and the council they elected to look at these applications. The Mayor says we need more affordable housing but when push comes to shove he thinks a £1.6million contribution to Crossrail is more important. We are trying to stand up for people, but the Mayor is basically shaking them down for some money.”

Among those who objected at the original meeting included the Charlotte Street Association, who argued the site’s offices were in full use already and the new scheme was much too big. Their secretary Max Neufeld said: “The members refused this on good planning grounds. It was not on a whim but following their policies laid out in the local development framework. The Mayor seems to be ignoring this and only looking at the £1.6million he would get for Crossrail.” 

The Mayor’s office said: “These buildings have been home to some of the most creative and innovative minds for the last 40 years, making the area an internationally recognised hub for the global advertising industry. Redeveloping this prime location will contribute to the competitiveness of London’s wider economy bringing with it new jobs and business. This proposal clearly meets the test of a planning application of major significance to London and I therefore believe it is right that I scrutinise it in greater detail.”

A hearing for the plans has yet to be fixed but it has to be before mid-August.