Candidates clash over development at Watford mayoral hustings

The mayoral candidates for the town all recognised that development has become the number one issue for residents.

At a virtual hustings event organised by the Observer on Wednesday evening, serving Liberal Democrat mayor Peter Taylor was accused of "failing" to take responsibility for the approval of tower blocks. His challengers said they would stop high-rises in the town if they were elected on May 5.

Five buildings over 20 storeys have been given the green light by Watford Borough Council since 2017, including in Ascot Road and St Albans Road.

But Mr Taylor said his rivals weren't "accepting reality" and criticised the current planning system in place by the Conservative-run Government and the housing targets set for Watford.

left to right: Watford 2022 mayoral candidates Peter Taylor (Liberal Democrat) Asif Khan (Labour) and Binita Mehta-Parmar (Conservative)

During the debate, Labour candidate Cllr Asif Khan and his Tory counterpart Binita Mehta-Parmar were united in their view the council had not done enough to fight targets or stand up to developers.

Cllr Khan accused the council of "losing control" to developers. He added: "We’ve got a mayor who is absolutely spineless when it comes to standing up to developers. They are allowed to build without social housing and they’re allowed to build these huge towers and he doesn’t take any responsibility and that’s a failure of leadership."

Mrs Mehta-Parmar said: "These are towers that don't fit in with the cultural heritage of our town. And not only that, they don’t provide affordable housing which would serve the need of residents."

She added: "I wonder if our mayor thinks he has fought [housing targets] enough because I would argue he didn’t."

A CGI supplied by developer Berkeley Homes of its 1,214 scheme in St Albans Road which was approved by Watford Borough Council in 2019. Blocks of 28,24, and 22 storeys will be built

Mr Taylor, who was elected as mayor in 2018, responded: "I totally get that people are unhappy about the pace and scale of change in Watford because I'm unhappy about it too.

"They [the Government] tripled Watford’s housing target in 2018 so if you have high Tory targets and if you have a Conservative planning system that benefits developers....you end up with Tory tower blocks and we’re not just seeing them in Watford.

"We’ve got to accept the reality of the situation we face at the moment, the other two candidates don’t seem to be accepting reality."

A screenshot of the Watford Observer's mayoral hustings which was streamed on Facebook and can be watched back in full on our Facebook page

Watch the hustings back on Facebook by clicking here.

The council has been working on a new planning document - a local plan - that will shape future development to meet a target of 13,300 homes in Watford until 2038. Mr Taylor says an up-to-date plan will give the council a "better chance of resisting appeals for inappropriate development".

Asked why the plan had not come sooner, Mr Taylor said it was "ready" in 2018 but then housing targets were changed. The Lib Dem candidate accused Labour councillors of "failing to provide any alternatives".

Mr Taylor also said an independent QC made it "clear" the council was not in a position to challenge the target after Watford Tory MP Dean Russell said the target is a "starting point" and could be negotiated.

A crane that has been erected on the former Range site in St Albans Road ahead of a 1,214 home development

Candidates were asked if more tower blocks would be built under their leadership if they were elected.

Mrs Mehta-Parmer said: "I pledge tonight that I would end any more of these high rises...Taylor's Towers."

Cllr Khan said: "I would put into the local plan a building strategy to limit the heights of these developments. Absolutely I’ll do that." He also promised "robust" discussions with the Government and developers.

Mr Taylor said: "I’ll always stand up for Watford and I find it amazing how a Tory candidate can say she would end tall buildings in Watford. We’re trying to do our best in an imperfect [planning] system and our policy is to have taller buildings around the train station and town centre but it to be more like eight, nine storeys."