Complaints that Newcastle City Council had a “vested interest” in the approval of the controversial Whey Aye wheel are irrelevant, civic centre chiefs have insisted.
The £100m plans to build Europe’s tallest observation wheel on the Quayside were given the go-ahead last week, with the developer claiming that it will become a world famous landmark.
But during a heated planning committee debate, one of the city’s leading councillors accused the local authority of hiding the fact that it stood to benefit from the development.
It is understood that the city council had already agreed to acquire the land at Spillers Wharf and sign a 150-year lease to the World Wheel Company last December, dependent on planning permission being awarded for the ambitious scheme.
Coun Veronica Dunn, a high-ranking member of the council’s Labour cabinet, told the meeting last Friday that the authority’s financial interest in the “cheap and nasty” wheel going ahead “needs to be made clear” to the councillors sitting on the committee.
Claiming that the democratic process and the independence of the planning committee had been undermined, she said: “The council has a vested interest in this deal and in this planning application. The members of planning committee should know about that.”
She added: “In 10 years the building will be falling down and the wheel in ruins. But the council has agreed a 150-year lease.”
In an extraordinary tirade, Coun Dunn also called the scheme a “shambles” and said that the residents most affected by it were being treated with contempt.
However, the city council has hit back by saying that the ownership of the land is “not a factor that can be taken into account” in any planning decision.
A spokesman said: “In relation to all applications, planning committee members are only able to make decisions on an application on planning grounds.
“Considerations they take into account include matters such as council policy, government planning guidance, flood risk, impact on landscape and many other elements. The ownership of the land for which an application has been made is not a factor that can be taken into account which is why it did not form part of the agenda item discussed by members in relation to the Whey Aye observation wheel.”
Coun Dunn’s comments angered planning committee chair Hazel Stepheson, who insisted that the Whey Aye application had been treated the same as any other.
Committee member Coun Gerry Keating also urged Coun Dunn to either prove her claims were true or withdraw them.
After a four-hour long hearing, councillors voted to approve the Whey Aye wheel plans by a margin of eight to four.
They also agreed to defer a crucial second decision on whether to allow a giant LED advertising screen to be attached to the 460ft wheel. World Wheel Company bosses said that they would negotiate further with the council to reduce the size of the proposed advertising screen, but could still build the wheel without the revenue the screen would generate “if push comes to shove”.
The giant wheel, which is taller than the London Eye, has been granted permanent planning permission – not the temporary 10-year approval that was first proposed. However, the council has inserted a clause that would allow the local authority to call in a £700,000 bond from the developer and decommission the wheel if it falls into disuse.
