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Council makes official complaint over developer’s ‘misleading’ PR campaign
A London council has made an official complaint against a developer for “misleading” residents about its plans for an old Network Rail site.
Lambeth Council has written to the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the governing body for PR organisations, as well as residents near the land in Tulse Hill south London.
It claims Be Living has instructed Built Environment Communications Group (BECG) to “misrepresent a council-led local consultation” about the site, called Knolly’s Yard.
The firm has leafletted residents and hosted a public meeting warning that the authority could intend to build a waste or recycling facility on the site.
A website bearing the developer’s branding states: “If you don’t speak up you could be living on top of an industrial area whether you like it or not.”
In a letter sent out to residents this week, Matthew Bennett, cabinet member for planning, regeneration and jobs at Lambeth Council, said the warning “is completely false”.
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Be Living said it wants to build “much-needed homes to rent with a brand-new work hub for small businesses in the arts, creative and tech industries” on the site.
However, Mr Bennett’s letter claims the developer’s representatives told councillors the cost of preparing the land for development “would mean no genuinely affordable housing in any housing development that they built”.
Lambeth Council’s planning policy requires that 40% of new housing in the borough is affordable.
The authority is set to consult on a review of its local plan, which would involve extending its policy of protecting existing employment sites – termed Key Industrial and Business Areas (KIBAs) – to include Knolly’s Yard.
Mr Bennett told Inside Housing: “This is a situation whereby a private developer has instructed a PR company to instigate a campaign, distributing false and misleading information to residents, in order to completely misrepresent a council-led local consultation.
“We have written to local residents in order to clarify what the consultation is about, and we have submitted a complaint to the PRCA, the governing body for public relations organisations, regarding the spread of inaccurate and purposefully misleading materials.”
A spokesperson for Be Living said: “Be Living has been in discussion with Lambeth’s senior officers on the site since 2016 and indeed signed a planning performance agreement to bring a residential planning application forward.
“Officers have stated their intention to designate the site, which is currently sui generis, as a KIBA. The council’s own definition of KIBA in the 2015 Local Plan includes uses for ‘waste and recycling’; ‘an industrial estate’ or ‘haulage and distribution’. This wording is reproduced on the leaflet.
“The leaflet does not assert that a KIBA means ‘the site would be used for heavy industrial uses’ but that it could be through the policy designation.”
Be Living said it will be hosting another resident meeting on 3 March “which will present the opportunity to present our further thoughts to the wider public”.
A spokesperson for BECG said: “BECG is surprised that the council has taken this course of action and will be liaising with the PRCA to provide a robust defence to the council’s claims that BECG has fallen short of the PRCA’s Professional Standards Charter.
“All BECG communications regarding the potential usage of the Knolly’s Yard site have been consistent with Lambeth Council’s Local Plan Review 2017 and are therefore accurate and designed to add to the debate in the local community about the future of this site.
“Alongside our client, we would prefer to be having a constructive conversation with the council on the respective merits of our arguments but, despite approaches from ourselves, this dialogue has been turned down by the council.”
Update: at 16:46, 26/02/18: The story was updated to include a statement from BECG.
