It was agreed last night (6/7) that the investigation into the Blakelands warehouse's planning permission should be led by Queen's Counsel.
Queen's Counsels are senior barristers or solicitors that are known as leaders in their area of law and commonly take on more complex cases.
It has been decided by a special Special Audit Committee on Milton Keynes Council that a QC will be leading an inquiry into the Blakelands warehouse saga, which has been ongoing for over two years.
Marc Dorfman, an independent consultant, was hired to look into how the warehouse was allowed to double in height - from 9m to 18m tall.
Last month, Mr Dorfman made a shock exit and resigned from his commission after delaying his review multiple times.
The review should have originally been published in mid-2019 but was marred in controversy and postponements. It led to Blakelands residents "losing confidence" in Mr Dorfman and Milton Keynes Council.
Moving forward, the QC will be instructed by the Council’s Monitoring Officer on recommendation from the Royal Institute of Town Planning, ensuring that any such QC is "qualified, reliable and capable". The cost of the new appointment is unknown.
The vote by Milton Keynes Council's Audit Committee was unanimous and cross-party. Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative councillors welcomed the news.
It was also welcomed by The Blakelands Residents Association, who said: “We are pleased that the audit committee have finally listened to the residents of Blakelands and unanimously agreed to commission a new review into the warehouse led by a leading legal professional.
"We believe that the steps taken will now ensure that a thorough and independent review will take place. It is important to us that we are able to learn the truth about what happened and what steps can be taken to prevent it from ever happening again.”
Audit Committee members were tasked with deciding what scope, transparency and form the existing investigation would continue in.
