Alternative riverside side plans paid for by Richmond's residents are still being kept secret despite calls for them to be made public ahead of the consultation results being released.
Lib Dem councillors are backing leader of the opposition Councillor Gareth Roberts’s call for the council to release details of other proposals submitted as part of the Twickenham riverside competition process.
LAST WEEK: Twickenham riverside consultation will NOT reopen after Lib Dem motion defeated
During a full council meeting last week, Coun Roberts claimed there were four alternative designs commissioned, costing the tax-payer £20,000.
But council leader Lord True said making the failed plans public could potentially prejudice the future commercial interests of the architects.
Demanding: Coun Roberts is calling on the council to reveal all plans submitted
Coun Roberts said: “Is this really the best that Coun True can come up with?
“If he’s to be taken at his word then he is placing the commercial interests of architects ahead of his duty to be open and honest with borough residents.
“We’ve paid for these plans and much as Coun True’s heart bleeds for the architects he has no right to suppress them.”
The results of the consultation carried out last year are due to be revealed today, Friday, January 29.
Feedback: Coun Fleming and architect Francis Terry at the pop-up shop consultation in Church Street
Council cabinet member for environment Councillor Pamela Fleming said: “The competition was to get an architect to design a heart for Twickenham – it wasn’t about consulting on all the plans.
“Just like all of Coun Roberts’s Lib Dem predecessors he is looking to delay.
“You have really got to go back to plans he supported in 2010 and what he was saying – those plans wouldn’t have delivered anything like the open space that we have just consulted on.
Sensitive: Council leader Lord True said it would be "commercially insensitive" to release all plans
“It is important to stress these are very early stage plans and we have an architect who is willing to listen to people’s feedback.”
She added that she would explore the possibility of releasing the failed proposals to the public.
A Lib Dem motion to reopen the consultation was defeated by the Conservative administration at the meeting on January 19.
Coun Roberts added: “As with his ill-fated Gloriana shenanigans, Coun True seems to think that if he manages to stitch up a deal behind closed doors then the people of Twickenham and the wider borough should be jolly grateful.”
Elephant: Coun Samuel described 2008 Lib Dem plans as a "white elephant"
Deputy leader Councillor Geoffrey Samuel said the only alternative proposal for people to compare the council’s plans to was the Lib Dem’s 2008 plans.
He said: “We should also publish the only alternative, submitted by the Lib Dems, which they have never formally withdrawn.
“It was a £3m white elephant with 32 luxury high-rise homes where the Diamond Jubilee Gardens are now.”
Luxury: Barry Edwards wants to know why politicians "can't do what people want"
Former parliamentary candidate Barry Edwards, known for his fierce opposition to the Lib Dem’s riverside ‘millionaire’s row’ proposals in 2008, accused the Conservative council of hypocrisy.
He said: “The people have already spoken on the Twickenham Riverside question.
“They didn’t want the Lib Dem luxury housing scam and there was also no mention of this Tory luxury Regency flats swindle.
“Why can’t these politicians do what the people want for once?”
The Richmond and Twickenham Times has submitted a Freedom of Information request to the council asking to view the alternative designs.
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