EIR - Kilburn Square Estate [Feb 2023]

Your request

1. Please provide copies of all correspondence between Brent Council or Network Homes and the GLA Housing and Land directorate from 1 September 2022 until the current date.
2. Should a grant recipient secure planning permission on one stated Tenure Mix and then seek to change it within the GLA’s definition of Affordable, for example, moving some units from LAR to Shared Ownership, would the change need to be advised to, and approved by, the GLA at a specific stage in the process, for example, before SOS?

Our response (to the remaining parts of your request)

Please note that as with previous correspondence, the information we have provided in response to your request is related to the new development on the Kilburn Square Estate, as referred to on the London Borough of Brent’s website, which we understand your EIR request relates to. Please be advised that we have not included information about any historic schemes on the Kilburn Square estate as we believe this to be outside of the scope of your request. 

1. Please find attached the information we hold within the scope of your request.  Please note that redactions have been made to schemes which are unrelated to the Kilburn Square Redevelopment (which is also referred to as Brondesbury Road Mental Health Service, or “Brondesbury” in the GLA’s correspondence with Brent). 

A small amount of content is exempt from disclosure and is considered to be exempt from disclosure by virtue of the disclosure-exception provision found under regulations 12(5)(e) of the EIR. This has been marked within the attachment where it applies. 

The information is covered by the common law obligation of confidentiality, the information is not trivial in nature, nor is it in the public domain and relates to commercially sensitive figures which form part of a negotiated bid process which has not yet concluded. Disclosure of the information would inevitably harm the confidential nature of it and therefore the exemption at Regulation 12(5)(e) is engaged in respect of disclosure of the redacted information. 

Regulation 12(5)(e) is as qualified exemption from our duty to disclose information under the EIR, and consideration must be given as to whether the public interest favouring disclosure of the information covered by this exemption outweighs the public interest considerations favouring maintaining the exemption and withholding the information. 

The GLA acknowledges that there is a public interest in the delivery of the Affordable Homes Programme. However, it is not in the public interest to release information which would be likely to prejudice the position of our partners in future negotiations and any procurement exercises. We therefore find that the public interest is balanced in favour of non-disclosure because of the harm its release would cause.

2. The Mayor’s planning powers are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008. The Order defines categories of planning applications of potential strategic importance (PSI)  which need to be referred to the Mayor as part of the planning process. The Order also sets out the limited circumstances where the Mayor may decide to call an application in for his own determination or to direct refusal. 

 In most cases Tenure Mix is secured through planning obligations, an agreement entered into pursuant to section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. In cases of PSI applications, unless they are called in by the Mayor for his own determination, the local planning authority and the applicant  would agree the section 106 planning agreement and if later the Tenure Mix were to be changed in the agreement the GLA, as the strategic planning authority, would not have approval rights. If the PSI application was called in by the Mayor for his own determination, the GLA would be a party to the section 106 planning agreement and any change to the agreement would need the GLA’s approval.  

If the Tenure Mix is included in the description of the development of a PSI application, or was secured by a planning condition(s )attached to the permission then an application pursuant to section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, needs to be made which will be referred to the Mayor and the provisions of the Order will apply as before.

If the affordable homes are funded through one of the Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programmes, then the grant recipient must notify the GLA as soon as they become aware of the change. This change then needs to be submitted to the GLA via the OPS system. The GLA will then review whether the project still meets the criteria for grant funding and whether the level of funding allocated to the project is still appropriate. 

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA131222-5502.