Leeds City Council wasted over £70,000 of Taxpayers money with this ill-judged application to expand Cottingley Springs Travellers site. This application breached the Councils own planning policies and the Planning Inspector was unequivocal in rejecting Leeds City Councils claims that land it owned in East and South Leeds was not appropriate for smaller Traveller sites. Leeds City Council paid over £10,000 to employ a barrister to support this ill-founded application and residents and community groups had to raise their own funds to get legal advice before the Public Inquiry.Residents and local community groups had to raise over £4000 to get Legal Advice on the planning application.
It was very much a David and Goliath contest at the Public Inquiry with Leeds City Council employing an expensive barrister to try and bulldoze through their application. We worked closely with local residents and community groups and the campaign was successful despite the odds.
My complaint has been lodged with Leeds City Councils Chief Executive Tom Riordan. The complaint covers breach of council policy and the cost to compensate local residents who helped to finance the campaign.
I have little faith that the City Council will refund residents for this entirely inappropriate planning application. We need to go through the complaints process before the matter is passed to the Local Government Ombudsman. If the Ombudsman does agree with me that the Council is guilty of maladministration then a compensation award can be made. Perhaps then residents will be refunded their hard earned cash.
