Concerns raised as replies to Bexley Natural Environment Forum and a Councillor appear to differ significantly in relation to both the stated process and the factors affecting the timescale for approval of the Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation review and, potentially, which of the independently-made recommendations actually get put before the Council.
Dear Ben (Thomas) [Senior Planning Officer, Strategic Planning and Growth]
In response to BNEF’s concerns about the time it has taken to approve the SINC review recommendations (now 18 months old) you replied to me on June19th (copy below), with a message which very much implied that a few tweaks would be made here and there but that there would be no further delays of any great magnitude, or that if there were, they would be beyond the Council’s direct control.
We note that your reply to a similar request from Councillor June Slaughter on July 13th, which she has shared with us (also reproduced below), appears to be significantly different in relation to both the process and the factors affecting the timescale and, potentially, the content of the review that finally goes to Council. It gives the unfortunate impression that your response to BNEF was lacking in key information, and as a result was arguably misleading. At the very least we are now left somewhat confused as to what is really going on with this.
– Can you explain why the further hold-up due to these two ‘work streams’ was not mentioned in your reply to BNEF, despite the fact that both were in train well before June 19th, and both are very much matters that are within the Council’s control?
– What is the nature and status of the ‘draft response’ you mention? Who sees and gets to comment on it? Where does it go and where in the process does it fit? Is this a final, formal response to LWT? Is this something that goes to the LWSB or what?
– To what extent is the ‘draft response’ likely to differ from the ‘very minor amendments to the SINC document’ mentioned in your reply to BNEF?
– What assurances will you now give that all the recommendations as to which sites should retain SINC status, or be newly granted such status, will be put before the Council for final approval and not deleted beforehand?
– What does ‘later in the year’ mean, given that the SINC review recommendations have sat in the wrong type of ‘long grass’ for a very long time already?
– More specifically, given that the ‘work streams’ probably have a target completion dates attached to various parts of those processes, can you now give us an approximate date by which you intend to submit the SINC review to the LWSB, and by which you hope to have achieved Bexley Council sign-off.
You will appreciate that it looks to us as if biodiversity considerations are once again subservient to everything else, and that by becoming tangled up in the Council’s even more concrete and sell-off agendas, are at risk of being watered down on account of those.
Yours, Chris Rose, Vice-chair.Bexley Natural Environment Forum.
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From: Ben Thomas
Date: Fri, June 19, 2015 3:20 pmTo: “chrisrose@gn.apc.org” <chrisrose@gn.apc.org>Cc: Various other officers.
Dear Chris We are currently finalising very minor amendments to the SINC document following a response from LWT, in the light of the consultation responses. We will then be asking LWT to make a couple of minor mapping amendments. A letter will then be sent to the Wildlife Sites Board for their consideration of the process that has been undertaken. As can be seen, a couple of the stages above are outside our direct control. Cabinet member approval will be sought as soon as possible after a response has been received from the Wildlife Sites Board. The revised SINC will then be published. Thank you Ben
From: Ben Thomas Sent: 13 July 2015 11:59 To: Councillor Slaughter, June Cc: Various officers.
Subject: RE: 2013 SINC Review
Dear Councillor Slaughter, I apologise for the delay in responding. I can confirm that officers are reviewing the draft report prepared by the London Wildlife Trust. Its recommendations form part of the technical analysis for a number of work streams including the growth strategy and potential site disposals. We anticipate being able to produce a draft response later in the year. Regards Ben Thomas, Senior Planning Officer, Strategic Planning and Growth
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SINCs are supposed to be the most important places in the Borough where other species are ‘allowed’ to go about the very basic business of earning their living. But they are increasingly at the mercy of Bexley Council’s fixation with the idea that more concrete = ‘progress’. (Photo: Chris Rose)
