THE sacked Tory planning chairman at Cheshire West and Chester Council says there is speculation he was ousted because he voted down the controversial student village.

Cllr Myles Hogg (Willaston and Thornton) was chairman of the strategic planning committee until last Thursday when he was replaced by Conservative colleague Cllr Howard Greenwood at the annual council meeting.

Speaking the day after his sacking, coincidentally on the same day the student village scheme was resubmitted, he told The Chronicle: “I hear on the grapevine that a revised application has been lodged this very week – coincidence?”

Earlier this year Cllr Hogg used his casting vote to stop the original student village application from being approved because he believed it was ‘inappropriate development in the green belt’. All Labour members voted against and every Tory colleague voted in favour except for him.

Speaking about his removal as chairman, Cllr Hogg said: “There is speculation that it’s all to do with my vote against the student village in January. It’s not for me to speculate, it’s for the leader to tell me.

“I was actually supporting the planning officer on that occasion. I wasn’t going out on a limb. The planning officer had recommended refusal.”

He added: “This Mollington site is a large green lung in that part of Chester and if it gets planning permission I see that as complete intrusion in the green belt and which other parts of the green belt in or around Chester will follow?”

Cllr Hogg, a former parliamentary candidate, ex-Tory group leader on Ellesmere Port and Neston Council and a member of planning committees for more than 25 years, is above all upset council leader Cllr Mike Jones (Tattenhall) did not speak to him in advance of the reshuffle.

“I’m very disappointed he didn’t have the courtesy to tell me why he was making the change because by common consent, including the BBC Planners programme, I have been a reasonable chairman, impartial.

“I have dealt with planning applications that came in front of us on their merits, no party whip, and that’s the way planning is supposed to be,” he said.

“The first I knew about it was when everybody else knew about it, which was two minutes to ten on Monday evening. An email came from the chief whip telling us all what our positions were, or weren’t, for the next year. So I’m totally in the dark as to why I have been relieved.

“I have been replaced by a councillor who has two years’ experience of being a councillor.”

And Cllr Hogg would advise his successor Cllr Greenwood (Farndon) to declare an interest and ‘step aside’ when the revised student village application, promoted by Bell Developments, comes before him just as Cllr Mike Jones has done because of his long-standing friendship with the Bell family.

That’s because Cllr Greenwood has confirmed to The Chronicle that he knows Mike Bell, one of the directors of Bell, through their shared passion for Chester FC and has ‘met him socially’.

He has also confirmed that prior to becoming a councillor, in 2009 or possibly earlier, he approached neighbouring landowners near where he lives at Edge, near Malpas, along with Mike Bell of Bell Developments over a possible business deal but ‘nothing came of it’.

Cllr Greenwood discussed his association with the council solicitor to see whether there was any issue over him taking part in the strategic planning committee which determined the student village scheme but was reassured it was not a problem.

Cllr Greenwood, who is self-employed, is director of H & L Greenwood Property Investments Ltd, Commercial Asset Management Ltd, BankchargesAU Ltd and Eddisons (Licensed, leisure and hotels) Ltd.

AUTHORITY LEADER DEFENDS DECISION

CHESHIRE West and Chester Council leader Mike Jones has expressed his disappointment with Cllr Myles Hogg’s reaction to being replaced as planning chairman.

Cllr Jones said: “I am disappointed that Myles feels there is ‘speculation’ surrounding the post of chairman of strategic planning when the group has appointed him to what is undoubtedly one of the most important posts on this council, albeit an unpaid role.

“Last year Myles was appointed to the management committee of the £3.2bn Cheshire Pension Fund with the expressed intention that he should take over the chairmanship of that committee from Cheshire East for 2013-14, and as part of the succession plan within the group.

“Pressure on funds created by the uncertain financial climate and Government’s proposed changes to pension funds nationally, mean that this is a crucially important role – not least for 70,000 public sector workers in Cheshire.

“Apart from our executive member, resources, Cllr Hogg is certainly the best qualified member of the group for this job with his many years of experience in the financial world.

“Myles is a former group leader on the former Ellesmere Port Borough Council and knows well that it is common practice to reshuffle the pack to accommodate new demands, including the opportunity for new members to have the opportunity to take on some responsibility.

“His expertise and experience certainly met our current needs for a well qualified and steady pair of hands to guide the pension fund through these difficult and changing times.”

Cllr Jones added: “Any so-called ‘speculation’ is no more than that – pure speculation.

“It certainly ignores the fact that one councillor who supported the application is likewise coming off the committee and that it is widely understood that planning committee members from all political parties are obliged to decide each case on its own merits – and according to their own conscience and without any party whip being applied.”

“Cllr Hogg questions the timing of the student village application as “coincidental?”

“Only the applicants will know the reason for their timing and their choice between appeal or re-submission of the application.”

Cheshire West and Chester Council spokesman, Ian Callister said: “In January this year, Cllr Greenwood, a member of the strategic planning committee, sought advice from CWaC’s legal service on whether his acquaintanceship with Mike Bell required a declaration of interest in respect of the student village application.

“He volunteered the information that prior to becoming a councillor, in 2009, he had talked to Mr Bell with regard to the possible development of his land at Edge, Malpas. Nothing had resulted from those discussions.

“It was felt that those discussions did not create any business or personal relationship with Bell Developments. Given the lapse of time, it would not be reasonable to think that Cllr Greenwood had anything other than the public interest in mind when considering the student village application.

“The council’s code of conduct requires members to declare an interest if appropriate and Cllr Greenwood had rightly enquired to understand whether this was necessary before voting on the issue.”