As the British Virgin Islands comes in for renewed criticism for being ‘a magnet for… money laundering and tax evasion’, Croydon’s Tory MP appeals for public support for a development proposed by a subsidiary of a shadowy company based in the British Virgin Islands
Massive development: Polaska wants to build £70m-worth of ‘later living’ flats, with less than 10% affordable homes
Despite continued lobbying directly from the office of the local Conservative MP, the overwhelming majority of the public has rejected a proposal for a massive development of hundreds of “later living” homes on the site of the former Purley Leisure Centre and neighbouring multi-storey car park.
With just one day of a public consultation period remaining, more than 2,000 people – an unusually high level of engagement – have submitted comments on the council website about the planning application. Of those, 1,529 – almost 75% – have been objections.
Chris Philp, the Tory MP for Croydon South, last night issued a reminder email to constituents to try to rally some late support for the scheme, which he has backed from the first.
“I hope the council will be able to approve this before the end of February,” Philp said, taking the side of multi-national developers over Purley residents.
Polaska supporter: Croydon’s £84,000 per year Mayor has also spent much time promoting a proposal from a private developer
The planning committee next meets tomorrow night, but the vast Purley project is not on the agenda there. After that, the next scheduled meeting of the planning committee is on February 27.
Philp has used his publicly-funded MP’s offices to run a petition in support of the multi-million-pound private development, and he claims he has received backing from 1,500 signatures.
But he is running into strong opposition.
Last month, seven of the borough’s largest and most influential residents’ associations roundly rejected the revised plans.
“Whilst all the RAs are very keen to see a new leisure centre built in Purley, serving our area, we believe this should not be at any cost,” a statement on behalf of the residents’ associations said.
And that is their response to the second, “improved” version of the plans, which were revised after the original proposal was snubbed by locals and roundly rejected by officials at City Hall.
That original scheme was described by the Greater London Authority as “wholly unacceptable” because of the absence of any affordable homes, in breach of local and London planning requirements.
The revised plan, revealed last month, includes a larger leisure centre, 18 affordable residential units – not even 10% affordable – and some extra parking spaces.
The development company behind the scheme, Polaska Assets Ltd, is ultimately owned by a shadowy off-shore company based in the British Virgin Islands tax haven. Despite repeated requests for information about Polaska Assets BVI, neither the MP (and millionaire property development financier) Philp nor plastic guttering salesman (and council Mayor) Jason Perry have managed to come forward with details of the BVI company’s directors.
Organised crime: the report in yesterdays Grauniad, highlighting again the dodgy deals done through the British Virgin Islands
Polaska’s proposals for Purley seem set to land just as controversy re-emerges over off-shore companies being used for money laundering, with the British Virgin Islands coming in for particular criticism for its refusal to implement stricter and effective controls.
Yesterday, The Grauniad reported that, “The British Virgin Islands have been accused of a ‘shameful’ attempt to avoid a crackdown on financial crime, in a growing rift with the government that threatens to escalate into a constitutional standoff…
“The BVI does not currently publish details of who owns companies incorporated there, a practice that campaigners say makes the British overseas territory a magnet for financial crime, including money laundering and tax evasion.”
And the British overseas territory is resisting all calls to mend its ways.
The newspaper report quoted Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative MP and member of the all-party Parliamentary group on anti-corruption, as saying that the BVI’s stance “is nothing other than a shameful bid to continue to manage stolen funds and assist in money-laundering from sources close to the sex trade and the drugs trade”.
There is no suggestion that Polaska Assets BVI, or its associated companies, operate in anything other than a legitimate manner. It is just a tad odd that they have been so reluctant to provide details of the ultimate owners behind the BVI parent company.
MP Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, did not respond today to Inside Croydon’s request to comment about Polaska Assets BVI and his apparent unwavering support for their money-spinning project in Purley.
Perhaps Andrew Mitchell could have a word?
Read more: Residents ‘deeply concerned’ over developers’ parking claims
Read more: GLA rejects Polaska Purley Pool plan as ‘wholly unacceptable’
Read more: Tories warn residents: don’t dare complain about Purley pool
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I do recall a lot of opposition to the ‘Purley Tower’ due to be built, 18 storeys compared to this one 7/8 storeys. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was an element of ‘tit for tat’ retaliation from the ‘Purley Tower’ developers to ‘Chris Philp’s’ Purley Pool development, and that could account for a portion of the objections.
It wouldn’t surprise me that the vast majority of objections are legitimate because people in Purley don’t want this monstrosity built. We were promised a new or renovated pool and leisure centre, not another block of flats and demolition of the main car park to be developed by a company that doesn’t even seem to have built a garden shed.
Polaska make all sorts of claims on their website, about their previous developments. Trouble is, concrete evidence (pun intended) of their involvement and achievements is proving very elusive