Southwark to hold planning committee meetings at Tooley Street instead of Town Hall

News of this decision was revealed in a blog post by the committee's new vice chair, South Camberwell Labour councillor Stephen Govier.

"Many applications come from the north of the borough and it makes sense to hold meetings to deal with these applications at Tooley Street so that local residents can easily attend and take part in the process," wrote Cllr Govier.

"The planning committee meeting scheduled for 29 June will take place at Tooley Street on the ground floor in a space that can accommodate the large numbers who turn up and are otherwise uncomfortably crammed into the traditional space at the Town Hall."

Ironically the only application so far slated for discussion at the 29 June meeting is for a building situated just yards away from the Town Hall in Peckham Road.

The cross-party quasi-judicial planning committee makes decisions on many large planning applications that affect SE1. Meetings often last long into the night.

Since the local elections last month – which saw Labour take control of the borough from the previous Lib Dem/Conservative regime – the committee's membership has changed radically.

The new chair is Cllr Althea Smith, with Cllr Govier as vice chair and new Labour members Sunil Chopra and Neil Coyle also joining the committee.

The three Liberal Democrat members of the committee are former council leader Nick Stanton, immediate past mayor Jeff Hook and former Conservative councillor Robin Crookshank Hilton.