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Jenrick ‘refused to discuss’ Westferry development with Conservative Party donor at dinner, MPs told
A Conservative Party donor raised the topic of his £1bn development application with housing secretary Robert Jenrick at an event but the cabinet minister refused to discuss the matter, MPs have been told.
Responding on behalf of Mr Jenrick to an urgent question on the controversial Westferry Printworks planning decision, housing minister Christopher Pincher claimed that Mr Jenrick “has no relationship” with Richard Desmond, the landowner who applied for the 1,500-home development on the Isle of Dogs.
His comments come after data from the Electoral Commission showed that Mr Desmond had made a £12,000 donation to the Conservative Party just two weeks after Mr Jenrick overruled the council and planning inspector and gave Mr Desmond’s application the green light.
Mr Pincher acknowledged that the housing secretary had shared a table with Mr Desmond at a Conservative Party fundraiser event but said Mr Jenrick refused to discuss the application when it was mentioned.
“The applicant raised the issue of Westferry at that dinner and my right honourable friend made it absolutely clear that he could not discuss planning matters and would not discuss that planning matter and the issue was closed,” Mr Pincher said.
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Developer donated £12,000 to Conservative Party two weeks after Jenrick’s ‘biased’ planning approval
Mr Jenrick’s approval of the application in January sparked controversy as it came just one day before Tower Hamlets Council was due to introduce new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges which would have cost Mr Desmond’s company, Northern & Shell, between £30m to £50m.
A consent order was later signed in which Mr Jenrick agreed to reverse the decision on the grounds of “apparent bias” and meant he did not have to disclose documents related to his decision, as requested by the council in a judicial review.
Mr Pincher said: “My right honourable friend has no relationship with the applicant. Both the applicant and the local authority had asked my right honourable friend to make a site visit.
“There were no discussions about the CIL issue between my right honourable friend and the applicant.”
Shadow communities and local government secretary Steve Reed called for the publication of all relevant documents on Mr Jenrick’s decision as the issue has raised “grave concerns about cash for favours”.
Clive Betts, chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, hinted that the select committee may seek further information on the planning decision.
John Biggs, mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “Not only did the secretary of state try to force this oversized development upon our community, he did it a day before a new £50m infrastructure charge would have come into force and only weeks after discussing it with the developer at a political party fundraiser.
“Instead of sending a junior minister to respond to questions, the Secretary of State should come clean and publish all of the advice and documentation related to his Westferry decision.
“If the public are to have faith in the integrity of the planning process, we need full transparency about what happened with Westferry and assurance that donations to political parties played no role."
Update at 14:55 11/06: Story edited to include John Biggs’ comments
