From:

Subject:
Date:
To:
Cc:

"Williams, Mark" <Mark.Williams@southwark.gov.uk>

RE: STP
4 December 2014 14:12:21 GMT
'Russell Gray' <russell@bvag.net>
"Bevan, Simon" <Simon.Bevan@SOUTHWARK.GOV.UK>, "John, Peter" <Peter.John@SOUTHWARK.GOV.UK>,
"damian.obrien68@gmail.com" <damian.obrien68@gmail.com>, Amy Carruthers <ameliebc@yahoo.com>, admin
<admin@bvag.net>, Ravi Bhaskaran <ravibhaskaran.archi@googlemail.com>

DearMrGray,

Thankyouforyouremail.Iacknowledgeyourrequesttoberecognisedastheneighbourhoodforumforthe
neighbourhoodareathathasbeendesignated.

FollowingthemeetingoftheOverviewandScrutinyCommitteeIagreedtoholdameetingwiththedifferent
groupstodiscusswhetheragreementcouldbereachedonaneighbourhoodforumforthearea.Asyouknow,
thismeetinghasnotyetbeenarranged.

InoteyourclaimthattheBermondseyNeighbourhoodForummetatyourpremiseson12Novemberand
agreedtodisband.However,IshouldadviseyouthatIreceivedconfirmationfromJohnCoreyinadvanceofthat
meetingthatthemeetingtakingplaceon12NovemberwasnotameetingoftheBermondseyNeighbourhood
Forum.IhavenotreceivedconfirmationfromtheBermondseyNeighbourhoodForumthattheyhavedisbanded
andwishtowithdrawtheirapplicationtoberecognisedasaneighbourhoodforum.Iwould,therefore,liketo
continuewithmyintentionasagreedatthescrutinymeetingtoarrangeajointmeetingwithyourgroupand
theBermondseyNeighbourhoodForumtoagreeawayforward.

IhopethatsuchameetingcanbearrangedinJanuary.Dependingontheoutcomeofthismeetingandwhether
furtherpublicconsultationisnecessary,Ishouldthenbeinapositiontomakeadecisiononthedesignationofa
neighbourhoodforum.

Yours,

Mark

CouncillorMarkWilliams
LabourMemberforBrunswickParkWard
CabinetMemberforRegeneration,Planning&Transport
LondonBoroughofSouthwark
160TooleyStreet
London,SE12TZ
02075257730/07985629095/@markwilliams84

From: Russell Gray [mailto:russell@bvag.net]

Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 12:34 PM
To: Williams, Mark
Cc: Bevan, Simon; John, Peter; damian.obrien68@gmail.com; Amy Carruthers; admin; Ravi Bhaskaran
Subject: Fwd: STP

Mr Williams
You have not responded to the email below. Our 12 November meeting did consider the possibility that
the Council would now revert to what we refer to as your plan A, which was simple delay in responding to
us and processing our application for recognition as a NF. The meeting's unanimous decision in that event

was to re-apply in exactly the same terms as for the original St Thomas St Plan but accepting the NA
designated by the Council. This is without prejudice to our contention that you had no power to designate
such an area and that the community will be at liberty to amend it if such a decision is subsequently made
by the Group.
Please therefore take this email as a formal application for recognition of our group as the NF for the NA
you designated. You will of course have all the original application material and it now simply needs to
be taken as an application for the much larger area selected by you. The only change is that The St
Thomas St Plan, 'STP' will be known under the working title of The St Thomas St Plan (Displaced)
'STP(D)' until the Group reconvenes to agree a new name.
Please confirm by return your target date for processing this application.
Regards
Russell Gray

From: Russell Gray <russell@lordshiva.net>

Date: 13 November 2014 14:32:33 GMT
To: Mark Williams <mark.williams@southwark.gov.uk>
Cc: peter.john@southwark.gov.uk, Simon Bevan <Simon.Bevan@southwark.gov.uk>, Damian
O'Brien <damian.obrien68@gmail.com>, Amy Carruthers <ameliebc@yahoo.com>, Admin BVAG
<admin@bvag.net>, Ravi Bhaskaran <ravibhaskaran.archi@googlemail.com>, John Corey
<john.corey@chelseaprivateequity.com>
Subject: STP

Mr Williams
It is unfortunate that you did not attend yesterday's joint BVAG/BNF and open
community meeting. You had been given some weeks notice, you gave no
specific explanation of why you did not attend and you did not even send a
representative. As you have been told before, we do not think it is open to the
Council to take a totalitarian approach to neighbourhood planning on one level
and then completely absent yourself when the community assembles to respond
to your diktats.
The meeting was well attended by the community at large, by a high proportion
of those who met originally to create BNF some years ago and the only known
remaining active members of the BNF committee. John Corey, the self appointed
chairman, made his excuses at the last minute and did not turn up. Also present
was Grange ward councillor, Damian O'Brien who, for independence, was jointly
nominated by BNF and BVAG to chair the meeting but in the circumstances of
such unanimity was not required to do so.
As it turned out, the Meeting and BNF itself (so far as it exists) resolved that BNF
should be formally wound up. Of course, we have maintained for years now that
BNF was just a straw man serving as a convenient decoy for a Council policy of
obstructing a genuine community group with policies at odds with its own. I do
not think it is now open to you either legally or politically to continue that ruse.

Please take legal advice on the status of your decision to designate a NA for
which there is no applicant. You should refer your lawyers in particular to the
requirement upon a local authority to designate 'some or all' (but not more) of a
NA for which a there is an application from a qualifying group. Hence you had
to rely on the BNF application to bring your decision into conformity with the
Act. BNF was not, as you know, a fit body to be recognised as a NF when you
made the decision - which is why you had to stop short of approving it. Now it
does not exist at all I think you must concede that your feigned recognition of
BNF is a charade too far, even for this Council.
Other decisions made by the meeting will be communicated to you when minutes
have been transcribed and when you have responded to the request above to stand
by or abandon your attempt to impose a NA on a community that considers itself
lawfully entitled to select its own.
Regards
Russell Gray

The email you received and any files transmitted with it are confidential, may be covered by legal and/or professional privilege
and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this in error
please notify us immediately. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or the person responsible for delivering it to them
you may not copy it, forward it or otherwise use it for any purpose or disclose its contents to any other person. To do so may be
unlawful. Where opinions are expressed in the email they are not necessarily those of Southwark Council and Southwark Council
is not responsible for any changes made to the message after it has been sent.