THE former chairman of Thurrock Council’s planning committee, who turned the authority on its head when he quit the Conservative mainstream and allowed Labour to take control, has delivered a damning indictment on some of his former Tory colleagues and senior officers in the Council.
Stuart St Clair-Haslam (pictured) walked out on the Tories, claiming he was being made the scapegoat for alleged failings of the planning committee and officers.
He was the only member of the committee singled out for criticism in the independent report on the activities of the committee that was recently released and the Enquirer believes he is likely to be singled out to face a Standards Board charge of misconduct brought by interim chief executive Bob Coomber.
However, Cllr St Clair-Haslam, who has retained membership of the Conservative party despite forging an alliance with another rebel, Cllr Anne Cheale, has got his retaliation in first, issuing a long statement suggesting the local constituency party may have compromised the Conservative Party integrity.
In particular he repeats his allegations of poor leadership and a lack of support from Tory leader Cllr Garry Hague, who he says has taken the local party to the brink of disaster.
He says links between the Conservatives, who have received support from the Grays-based Industrial Chemicals Group Ltd, including basing their group office on the company’s land at Titan Works raise serious questions.
The company, for instance, own land in West Thurrock on which an illegal lorry park has been run for some time, yet the Council has resisted efforts from Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation to take enforcement action against the company.
The lack of enforcement action is in clear breach of the Council’s own rules, and action has been taken against other illegal lorry parking in the borough, while formal applications for legal lorry parks have met with opposition from officers.
The Council’s lack of action is also a recorded matter of contention between the Council and the Development Corporation who would like to see the land at West Thurrock developed to create jobs.
Cllr St Clair-Haslam told the Enquirer: “It would be very easy for me to say nothing and not ask questions, particularly as this unauthorised lorry park may take some unwanted vehicles away from my own ward, which is blighted by illegally-parked lorries, but I cannot see how it can be right for the Council to ignore the situation in West Thurrock.
“And it is all the more concerning when the owner of the land has strong connections with the then ruling Conservative group.
“I frequently had occasion to express my deep concern as to how any association between Thurrock Conservative Association and ICG Ltd, could have been allowed to develop in the circumstances.”
Cllr St Clair-Haslam is also partly critical of the report by Chris Collison, questioning his independence and saying it was a piece of work “commissioned in order to assist certain officers and certain complicit members in their attempt to stymie, frustrate and effectively emasculate the democratic function of the Planning Committee.”
He then asks how planning councillors could function properly under the “straightjacket” rules advanced by Mr Collison, adding: “As regards the recommendation of Mr Collison “that councillors adopt practices that leave them above suspicion of receiving inappropriate infl-uence” I welcome and embrace this recommendation.
“However, as an elected member I have always shied of courting any direct involvement with developers in Thurrock and consistently and in all instances and whenever approached by third party developers, made it my practice to immediately refer them to the appropriate council officer.
“Notwithstanding such, there appears to be an almost pathological tendency on the part of officers to suppress the availability of relevant information emanating from applicants and their agents, when such information in my view can only assist the Members of the Planning Committee in their deliberations in reaching a fully informed decision, in an open, transparent and fair manner.
“I believe that provided councillors declare the receipt of such information and at all times continue to adopt an open-mind in reaching a decision with proper and impartial assistance and input of officers that the determination of individual planning applications brought before the committee can only be assisted by the existence of such extraneous information.”
Cllr St Clair-Haslam goes on to make a detailed defence of many of the criticisms of Mr Collison and says he has acted at all times with honesty and integrity.
He says: “I remain unashamed of the belief I was elected by residents of Thurrock to represent them and, where right and able to do so, make a difference to their lives.
“I have always sought to exercise my planning judgement as a decision maker on the planning committee with all good faith and conscience and, most importantly, with the best interests of residents and the business community of Thurrock uppermost in my mind.”
Click here to read Cllr St Clair-Haslam's full statement