We thought our readers might be interested in the questions we posed in the below email to the TMO that raises concerns regarding the interminable delays to the Grenfell Tower improvement project. This latest correspondence followed a surprising statement we received from Mr Edward George at the RBKC Planning Dept.
We had contacted Mr George to find out when the Planning Committee might at last be expected to meet to decide the Grenfell Tower application, only to be stunned to learn that the current delays have “nothing to do with Planning” but are due to the apparent inability of the TMO to submit a Planning Application which is fit for purpose.
At the last resident engagement evening held at the EMB Rooms on September 19th Mr Maddison (Head of TMO Assests) claimed that the Grenfell Tower planning application was on track and back in the hands of the Planning Dept for decision. The minutes from the same meeting, crudely stuck to the interior of the Grenfell Tower lifts, stated that “KCTMO are chasing the planning authority for updates regularly”.
The truth however appears to be somewhat at odds with Mr Maddison’s version of events, and it seems that the TMO have still not managed to supply a planning application with the necessary Legal Agreement (See below). More delays to the timetable of the project would therefore appear to be inevitable. We have to question if the TMO are capable of delivering a project of this magnitude, and fear what they might have in store for residents if the works ever commence.
14 October 2013 17:12
To: Angela Bosnjak-Szekeres@kctmo.org.uk
Subject: FW: Grenfell Tower.
Dear Ms Bosnjak Szekeres,
It appears from recent correspondence with Mr George (Senior Planning Officer) at RBKC that the Council’s Planning Dept is not responsible for the interminable delays to the Grenfell Tower improvement works and that the current hold up to the proposed works is the sole responsibility of the applicant, the TMO.
With this in mind, please can the TMO inform our community why your organisation did not submit a “draft legal agreement” when the Grenfell Tower planning application was first submitted in Sept 2012?
Please can the TMO inform our community how long the drafting of a satisfactory Legal Agreement will now be expected to take and when the TMO can expect the Grenfell Tower improvement project to finally come up before the Planning Applications Committee?
Are there any other issues likely to come to light that may further delay the TMO’s ability to submit a “fit for purpose” planning application?
Please could the TMO also answer the two additional questions posed below:
“We are now aware that the TMO have spent half a million pounds on the Grenfell Tower improvement project without establishing the basics of how the heating system will operate or submitting a planning application ready for approval? Who is monitoring this spending and how much money will be left to carry out the actual works?”
Regards,
Grenfell Action Group
Grenfell Action Group 