Agent behind controversial Brimsdown tower development requested meeting with planning committee chair Sinan Boztas, reports James Cracknell

*The plans for the Station Tavern site and (inset) planning committee chair Sinan Boztas*

The agent of a developer hoping to build a tower deemed “unsafe” by Enfield Council’s planning department has attempted to meet with the chair of the planning committee, a leaked email shows.

Murat Aydemir is the agent acting on behalf of developer Yen of London Ltd, which has twice had its application for a 21-storey tower block next to Brimsdown Station deferred. Planning officials at the council gave committee members twelve reasons to refuse the scheme at meetings in July and October, but the committee deferred the scheme both times after seven Labour councillors – including chair Sinan Boztas – refused to reject it.

Two days after the second deferral an email, seen by the Dispatch, was sent by Murat to the council’s head of planning Brett Leahy and was copied to all committee members. It requested a meeting with Brett, Cllr Boztas, the council’s head of development management Andy Higham, cabinet member for planning Susan Erbil and head of building control Andrew Marsden.

In his request for a meeting Murat explained: “In a number of previous emails we have expressed our concerns about the lack of engagement for your department, causing a series of misunderstandings and discrepancies ultimately resulting in two deferrals.”

Murat’s claims in the email are contradicted by the planning department, which in its October report summarised its attempts to contact him after the July deferral, stating: “Between the initial communication, namely 26th July 2022, and the date by which the information was required, namely 29th August 2022, there was no offer from the applicant to meet to enable a broader discussion on the merits of the proposals.”

Conservative committee member Mike Rye, a former leader of the council, told the Dispatch that an applicant sending a request to meet the chair of the planning committee was “entirely inappropriate” and had replied to Murat to tell him that any councillors attending a meeting with him “should be disqualified from sitting on the planning committee” as they would be in danger of “being lobbied” and “pre-determination”.

Cllr Rye explained: “He [Murat] appears to be an experienced agent who has had applications before the committee on a number of occasions and you would expect him to understand that approaching committee members directly is entirely inappropriate.”

The Dispatch has asked the council to confirm whether a meeting has taken place or been arranged but has not received any response.

Discussions between applicants and planning officers are normal and help the council to advise developers on whether their schemes comply with policy and would be recommended for approval at committee. However, strict rules are in place to ensure that committee members themselves cannot be unduly influenced, as they must “keep an open mind” and not pre-determine any application before it is presented for consideration.

The council’s constitution does not forbid meetings between councillors and applicants specifically but makes it clear that “such meetings should not be common practice” and that if a meeting does take place the head of development management should be notified and an officer be present. The constitution further warns: “Councillors should avoid placing themselves in a position that could lead the public to thinking they are seeking preferential treatment for themselves, for relatives or friends or any firm or body with which they are personally connected.”

If planning committee members do have any contact with an applicant they are required to declare this at any subsequent meeting where the application is being determined.

Murat, who is the director of Intelliarch Ltd, said in a statement: “Intelliarch Ltd has been fully compliant with the council’s protocol in asking for a meeting to assess our application with an officer present.”

Among the reasons given by planning officers for why the development on the site of the Station Tavern pub in Green Street should be rejected were the “absence of an adequate fire strategy”, “deficient provision of children’s play space”, “overbearing impact on neighbours”, and because the tower was “excessively tall and inelegant”.

But on 18th October seven Labour councillors on the committee voted against the officers’ recommendation to reject the scheme, saying the applicant should be given another six months to address the concerns raised. The committee then voted to defer it.

Murat has previously acted as the planning agent for applications submitted by current and former Labour councillors. This includes Nesimi Erbil’s application in 2016 for vehicular access at a property in Nightingale Road, before he was forced to stand down from the council over two convictions, as well as current Labour councillor Mahym Bedekova’s application in 2017 for an extension to her house in Edmonton, submitted prior to her being elected the following year, and former mayor Sabri Ozaydin’s application in 2016 to erect an outbuilding at his property, before he became a Labour councillor.

Murat was also the agent for two unsuccessful applications in 2018 and 2019 to redevelop Celbic Hall in Lancaster Road, which is the headquarters for Enfield North Constituency Labour Party. He is not the agent for a third application set to be determined by the planning committee next week.

There is no suggestion or evidence of impropriety regarding Murat Aydemir’s business connections with the Labour Party or Labour members.

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