How an appeal decision was fast-tracked: the documents trail

摘要

Documents released by communities secretary Robert Jenrick last week regarding his decision to approve the £lbn Westferry Printworks scheme clearly show he sped up the approval in order to help the developer avoid paying a local tariff of up to £50m. Text messages exchanged between Jenrick and Richard Desmond, show Desmond asked the minister to intervene as "we don't want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!". Desmond's message, sent the same day Jenrick instructed officiais to speed up processing the application, is a reference to the introduction by Labour-run Tower Hamlets council of a community infrastructure levy (CIL) schedule.