Wirral Council paid barrister £6,090 for 2 day planning inquiry hearing & 5 hours of work

Wirral Council paid barrister £6,090 for 2 day planning inquiry hearing & 5 hours of work

Wirral Council paid barrister £6,090 for 2 day planning inquiry hearing & 5 hours of work

                                                                  

Below is a redacted invoice and a partially unredacted invoice. These relate to a planning application for land at the former Ellerman Lines Sports & Social Club, Carr Lane, Hoylake CH47 4AX.

On the 23rd November 2011, Wirral Council received a planning application for “The erection of 62 affordable homes together with associated works” ( planning application APP/11/01348 )

On the 26th April 2012, Wirral Council planning officers decided to refuse the planning application.

This decision was appealed to the Planning Inspectorate by Kirby Park Ltd C/O Agents, JASP Planning and the appeal was accepted on the 31st October 2012.

The Planning Inspectorate then arranged a public hearing in front of a planning inspector (Karen L Baker DipTP MA DipMP MRTPI) on the 7th and 8th of February 2013 with a site visit on the 8th February 2013. The inspector issued her decision on the 18th March 2013 which upheld Wirral Council’s planning officer’s decision (Mr M Rushton) to refuse planning permission.

The invoice below (for £6,090) is for the junior barrister (Mr Jonathan Easton of Kings Chambers) who acted for Wirral Council at the two-day hearing. This is for £5,075 + VAT (total £6,090). I enclose two versions below. The original received from Wirral Council incorrectly redacted Jonathan Easton’s name and the address/planning reference for the inquiry (which is held in public).

You can read the decision on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

The planning fee Wirral Council charged the developer for this application was £17,765. So at least what they got charged for legal advice and representation at the planning inquiry didn’t exceed this!

The Wirral Globe wrote about this planning application back in December 2011.

Wirral Council Jonathan Easton £6090 APP/W4325/A/12/2184753 17th March 2013
Wirral Council Jonathan Easton £6090 APP/W4325/A/12/2184753 17th March 2013

Wirral Council Johnathan Easton £6090 APP/W4325/A/12/2184753 17th March 2013 partially unredacted
Wirral Council Johnathan Easton £6090 APP/W4325/A/12/2184753 17th March 2013 partially unredacted

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Hoylake RNLI Open Day and the top 7 stories this week

Hoylake RNLI Open Day and the top 7 stories this week

Hoylake RNLI Open Day and the top 7 stories this week

                                    

It’s a Bank Holiday today and although I’ve been down to the Hoylake RNLI Open Day today and taken plenty of photos which is a story on that can wait till tomorrow. Three years ago I wrote about the Area Forum where the beginnings of what is now the Hoylake Lifeboat Museum were discussed, which is one of the buildings that is open as part of the Open Day.

Wirral Council’s interest in the car park next to the Hoylake Lifeboat Museum was as you can read from this story in the Wirral News from 2010 was originally going to be sold off along with where the museum is after a decision by former Cllr Simon Holbrook (who was then Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources) in November 2010. However the decision was “called in” by councillors and reconsidered in December 2010, a letter from Hylgar Properties Limited being one of the factors that led to a changed decision. Despite brief mentions about that call in meeting, here and here on this blog, it seems I never did get round to writing up a detailed account of what happened at that call in meeting back in December 2010, however the minutes of what happened at the call in are on Wirral Council’s website.

As it is a bank holiday today, I will just be writing briefly today about what has been popular on this blog in the last week and taking the rest of the day off. The last week (August is traditionally a quiet month for politics) has seen 551 visitors to this blog viewing 1,247 pages. The top seven stories in order of popularity the last week have been:

1) Why did Wirral Council spend an incredible £1,872 on a London barrister to prevent openness and transparency?

2) The incredible £754,783.18 that Wirral Council councillors cost (plus amounts for the Mayor & Deputy Mayor)

3) Lyndale School Consultation Meeting: Julia Hassall “we’re not having straightforward consultation” (part 10)

4) Planning Committee on 8:5 vote approves plans for Tranmere Rovers training ground to move to Leasowe

5) Bidston Moss Retail Park: Five New Units Under Construction

6) Birkenhead Market Limited Accounts: Is This The Reason Behind Neptune’s Masterplan?

and

7) Government asks councils in England to bid for £16 million of money to tackle fraud

Note the Contact details for 66 Wirral Council councillors (2014) is in joint 7th place but as it is just for information I have not included it in the above list.

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Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary Leonora

Heart in Sky (Red Arrows) Southport, September 2012

Today, is my fourth wedding anniversary to Leonora (who also writes on this blog). She’s stood by me through good times and bad and I love her with all my heart. My reporting of what’s happening at Wirral Council would probably be very different over the last few years without her help.

The photo used is from the Red Arrows display at the weekend at the Southport Air Show (which despite the Red Arrows display team having to use one reserve aircraft that couldn’t use smoke) was very impressive and enjoyable. Certainly Wirral are trying to do a similarly large event with the Ricoh Women’s British Open at the Royal Liverpool in Hoylake.

So here’s to four years of marriage and hopefully many more to come.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 1

The West Wirral Area Forum agenda, minutes of the previous meeting and Area Coordinator’s report can be read by following the link.

The Chair Cllr Gerry Ellis welcomed over eighty people and said it was “lovely that so many were here tonight”. He said Cllr Foulkes had sent a written statement and there was a short film about the lifeboat museum introduced by John Parr which Cllr Ellis described as amazing. Cllr Ellis said there were a “number of other issues”, but they’d “whiz around the main table” to introduce people.

Present:
Jim Thompson (Community Safety Team)
Myles Platt (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service)
John Percival (private sector representative)
Sandra Wall (Older People Parliament)
Cllr Eddie Boult
Cllr David Elderton
Cllr Geoffrey Watt
Tracey Smith
Cllr Gerry Ellis
Kevin Adderley (Lead Officer)
Margaret Shaunessy (Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust)
Cynthia Radford (Community rep)
Inspector Mike Blease (Merseyside Police)
Jim Lester (Head of Parks & Open spaces)
Mark Traynor (Streetscene)
Gary Evans (Community rep)

Apologies were received from Cllr Hale and Cllr Green who were at a local government conference

Cabinet meeting – 14th April 2011 – Election Special Edition – Part 4 – Support for Wirral Council’s Coastal Resort Towns

Kevin Adderley introduced the report referring to the special Area Forums concerned to decide and score the proposals. He said for the Hoylake and West Kirby area that the top five successful projects had been chosen, but that Wirral Council would work with those unsuccessful applications to try and find alternative funding. He said there was a risk regarding council owned assets and that it was a significant risk. The health and safety implications were also referred to and he said they had “learnt a lot” and a further report would be coming to Cabinet on the participatory budget process.

There had been some disagreement with the proposals, stories in the local press, email and a letter from a Caroline Allsop which had been circulated to Cabinet members. Cllr Green and Cllr Elderton declared a personal interest as they had attended the West Kirby area forum. Cllr Green said letting go and inviting people to make decisions meant they had to live with the public’s choice. There had been clear guidance and presentations, however lessons would be learnt. More opportunities need to be taken to delegate decision to residents in their neighbourhoods. It was important to learn the lessons. He thanked Kevin and the engagement team.

Cllr Holbrook noted that both Area Forums chose the participatory budget route. The Cabinet resolution had not specified the method, but evidence showed it was the right decision and went well.

Cllr Lewis referring to community engagement said there had been a good attendance at the special Area Forums, however if there was no real offer at Area Forums and people there just heard the Council drone on it led to lower attendances. Involving residents in deciding how money was spent was a way to encourage them to come along.