The Perils Of the Cabinet System

January

8

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We are not keen on the Cabinet system at Rochford – it’s expensive and not very democratic. Here’s an example from the Guardian website of how a Labour cabinet in Lewisham is pushing through a development that will force Millwall Football Club away from their home – even though the plan’s  not even supported by Labour’s own back-bench councillors:

The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, has joined the growing chorus of dismay at Lewisham council’s “extraordinary” plans to carry out a compulsory purchase of Millwall’s land at The Den.  n a statement to the Guardian, Farron called on Lewisham council to consider the full repercussions of its land seizure. The Liberal Democrat leader said it would be “heartbreaking” if the decision to sell the land on to a mysterious offshore-owned property developer led to the club having to consider leaving the borough….

…. Farron is the first senior Westminster figure to speak out on the issue. His call for the council to work instead with the club and the community comes three days before a town hall meeting at which the compulsory purchase order is due to be confirmed or rejected by the Labour cabinet.

This will be the second time the CPO has been ruled on. The council’s own scrutiny committee urged it to reconsider last September after grave concerns were voiced by senior councillors at both the murkiness of the process and the identity of the parties involved.

Lewisham plans to sell Millwall’s land to an offshore-owned property developer called Renewal, a company whose CEO is a former Lewisham council officer, and which, records have revealed, had the last Labour mayor of Lewisham as one of its founding directors…..

…..It is understood Lewisham’s cabinet still intends to push through a decision that has been condemned by a vast majority of its own backbench labour councillors.

 

Full article here.

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