DISILLUSIONED residents are planning a coup in the May Elections by standing against the Conservative council who they accuse of siding with developers.
A group in Kensington and a group in Chelsea will be standing as Independents in an effort to overthrow many of the Conservative councillors they feel let down by locally.
They promise to fight against developers, who they believe are forcing poorer residents and businesses from the area, and the council, which they claim is complicit in granting numerous ambitious planning applications.
The Kensington Resident’s Party (KRESPA) have yet to name the individual candidates who will be standing but Chelsea Independents are made up of the Barber of Britten Street Heinz Schumi, resident of the under-threat Sutton Estate Ian Henderson and family man Andrew Barshall.
The Chelsea Independents will all be standing in the Stanley Ward.
Andrew said: “It’s about time that someone stands up for the Chelsea community which is being eroded beyond belief by the rubber stamping in the town hall planning department which is allowing overseas developers to destroy this area.”
Mr Schumi decided to stand after losing a final appeal against the council granting his landlord’s bid to convert his salon, which has been a shop since 1810, into luxury housing. The salon will close for the final time this month, but the stylist hopes to prevent further “sanitisation” of the historic area.
He said: “Local authorities have the power to save community assets, and the Local Government Act encourages preservation of employment, but still the council here grants planning permission to landlords and developers and continues to raise rates.
“I want to preserve amenities and public services, but of course also social housing. All the council wants is to sell the land.”
A spokesman for KRESPA said: “Our residents planning to stand in the local elections and the Chelsea Independents are united in feeling let down by this Conservative council.
“The council’s recent decision to award the Isaac Newton Centre to the Alpha Plus Group choosing profit over community, confirmed our view that the council refuse to listen to the views of their electorate.
“Big business continues to be put ahead of the community. Money ahead of safety, money ahead of traffic and money ahead of residents.
“This is not democracy and we intend to change this. I am happy to confirm that we are drawing up our list of candidates and one way or another every councillor either side of Holland Park Avenue will be impacted.”
Mr Henderson’s greatest concern is that the Sutton Estate in which he lives alongside around 1,000 social tenants, is about to be torn down and redeveloped, with a third of the new properties sold off to private buyers. He is campaigning to save the estate, which was built in 1912 with money left by philanthropist William Sutton.
He said: “Like Heinz, I feel local voices need to be heard at the Town Hall. They’re more worried about people from outside the area than those that live there at the moment. They’re looking after the interests of foreign buyers and foreign developers.”
A spokesman for the local Conservatives said: “The Conservatives in Kensington and Chelsea have a fantastic track record of delivering value for money and excellent services for the whole borough, and we will continue campaigning for and delivering on the issues that matter most to local residents. Once we know which parties are putting up candidates for the elections in May, we will review and comment on their positions then.”
