THE leader of Brentwood Borough Council has been accused of dressing up a Conservative party plan to build a new car park in Shenfield as official council policy – although she claims her opponents just don't get the facts.
As previously reported in the Gazette on July 3, Louise McKinlay wants to build the 110-space "park-and-stride" facility on a seven-hectare "council-owned" site in Alexander Lane in a bid to mitigate the impact the arrival of Crossrail will have on residents and traders.
However, opposition councillors described her approach as "confusing" and "absolutely ridiculous," while the authority's managing director Alison Crowe attempted to distance herself from Mrs McKinlay's proposal.
The row erupted after Liberal Democrat members queried whether the council actually owns the seven hectare site in question.
At a council meeting at the Town Hall on July 10, Ms Crowe said of Mrs McKinlay's words in the Gazette: "It was a political statement so it wasn't put out by the borough council."
Liberal Democrat opposition group leader Barry Aspinell took issue with this, saying that most people would assume Mrs McKinlay's comments were being made on behalf of the council.
In reply, Ms Crowe said: "We didn't issue a statement as the council."
Mrs McKinlay, who represents Hutton North, provided the Gazette with a map of the "council-owned" site to illustrate our previous story – a document sent to her by the authority's senior policy planner Phil Drane.
She has since repeatedly insisted that the authority does own some land in Alexander Lane – yet Liberal Democrat borough councillor Graeme Clark is confused.
Mr Clark, who represents Shenfield, said: "I contacted Jen Candler, who is the head of planning, and she said 'No, the council doesn't own the land'.
As the Gazette went to press, he obtained a new map from the council, which shows that the authority does own land in Alexander Lane – but on the opposite side of the road.
Alongside Mr Aspinell and other councillors, Mr Clark was part of a cross-party Crossrail working group which was set up to identify suitable sites for a new car park.
He says that during this process, he was told that the area shown on the map provided by the council was "in private hands".
Mr Clark added that he has now asked the authority to confirm what land it owns in the vicinity of Alexander Lane and whether it has any property which borders the street.
As for the claim that the park-and-stride proposal was not a council one, he said: "I find it impossible to understand how the leader of the council can give information to the paper as a 'political statement' when she is using council materials, speaking in her council office and using her council title.
"This is confusing everybody."
Mr Aspinell, who represents Pilgrims Hatch, claimed that at a meeting of the Crossrail working group he had been shown a Land Registry document which "clearly states that the site in Alexander Lane is in the ownership of three different individuals".
Mrs McKinlay said: "I'm really not interested in political posturing from the Lib Dems, which is both predictable and disappointing.
"The fact of the matter is that Crossrail is coming to Shenfield and we need to prepare for it.
"There will be an impact in the short and long term and during the construction phase. Parking is just one area that needs addressing.
"The proposals are designed to ensure that Shenfield residents and businesses are protected and that we get the best out of the scheme.
"We'll continue to consult on the details over the summer and have had a very favourable response so far to both the park-and-stride and free parking plans in Hunter Avenue and Friars Avenue car parks.
"To be clear, despite opposition claims to the contrary, the council does own land down Alexander Lane that could be used but is also looking at other sections of land down there.
"No decision on the exact location has been made yet and won't be until we've heard from local people.
"However, this is part of the Local Development Plan process so ownership is irrelevant anyway.
"The opposition know this and have been involved in discussions. What is confusing and baffling is why they are now adopting a different stance publicly.
"As ward members, they should be putting efforts in to making plans work for Shenfield, not playing party politics."
The site identified by the council is adjacent to a playing field owned by Shenfield High School.
Head teacher Carole Herman told the Gazette she understood that the site was beyond the boundary of the school's play area.
However, she added: "We were concerned after reading your first article because we hadn't had any contact from Louise McKinlay or anyone the council.
"We want to work closely with anybody who has plans for that area because we want it to be to the community's advantage and we want to be involved in any discussions in case there is an impact on our school."
The Gazette asked the council to provide a copy of the Land Registry document referred to by Mr Aspinell, but a spokesman told us our request would need to be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act.
Under this legislation, the authority has 20 working days to respond and, in this instance, we are due a reply by August 2.
