6 Members of the City of London Planning Committee

As noted in an earlier post: “An application to build a huge luxury apartment block on the site of Bernard Morgan House – until now key worker social housing – in Golden Lane was approved by the City of London Planning and Transportation Committee on 23 May 2017. Thirteen of those present voted in favour and ten against. This development will steal light and sunshine from local homes, a park and three local schools. We don’t currently know the identities of all those who voted in favour of this application…” See City of London Planning Committee Roll of Shame.

We’re fairly sure we’ve identified the ten people who voted against Taylor Wimpey’s Gerrymander Mansions development, which leaves those who either didn’t vote or voted in favour of it. So here are six members of the Planning Committee who we suspect didn’t vote against the application:

Graeme Martyn Smith
Henry Nicholas Almroth Colthurst
James de Sausmarez
Paul Nicholas Martinelli
Robert Picton Seymour Howard
William Upton

In terms of the information provided about them below, what comes first is lifted from the council website; this includes material from declarations of interest. Exactly what should be put on a declaration of interest is inevitably subject to a certain amount of subjective interpretation; we’ve flagged up a couple of company directorships we’d have liked to have been included in these but weren’t. Additional information has been added from elsewhere and is identified as such.

There seems to be a question mark over whether William Upton was actually present at this meeting, so we’ve only provided information from the council website about him. If he’d like to clarify whether he attended in the comments below we’d really appreciate it; we’d also welcome his thoughts on the application. Likewise we’d be very happy if both those listed here and the rest of the committee used the comments to explain how they voted or not, and their reasons for this. We will take a look at the members of the committee who didn’t oppose this development and who aren’t listed here or in our Roll of Shame post in future blogs. You might like to check out our posts about possible conflicts of interest as regards this with a focus on Chris Hayward, and our look at former Lord Mayor Michael Bear who also voted in favour of the application, as well our take on the politics of representation around this decision.

Graeme Martyn Smith

Born close to Epping Forest in Essex where he still lives, Graeme commutes into St. Paul’s on the Central Line each day to work. Educated at Bancroft’s School and then at City University Cass Business School, he has spent most of his career working in the City, in Information Security. Previously having worked for S.G.Warburg, Schroders and Newton, he’s currently a Managing Director at BNY Mellon located in Farringdon Within, where he has worked since 2005 in Information Risk Management. Non-pecuniary interests. Freeman – Worshipful Company of Information Technologists/Member – Farringdon Ward Club/Member – Epping Forest Conservative Association/ Member – Stonewall/Member – Butterfly Conservation/Member – International Information Systems Security Certifications Consortium Inc./Member – ISACA/Friend of the Museum of London/Friend of the City of London Festival/Friend of the Guildhall Art Gallery/Member – National Secular Society/City University London Alumni/Friend of Copped Hall Trust/Associate Member of Epping Forest Centenary Trust.

LinkedIn Summary: Graeme is a highly-experienced information security and information risk professional, having worked in the financial services industry since 1994. He is results-driven, pragmatic and tenacious in his approach to helping organisations manage technology risk, allowing the business to make informed and balanced commercial decisions. He’s had experience of managing teams in both 1st & 2nd Lines of Defence, both in the UK and worldwide, and most recently those teams involved in Mergers & Acquisitions, Communications & Awareness, and Metrics & Analytics. In addition, he has experience of working in and managing teams focusing on providing: application & infrastructure assessment/C-level briefing/forensic investigations/project management/policy creation & review/vendor risk management. Graeme is also an elected Member of the Court of Common Council, the City of London’s primary decision-making body, and has served on a number of committees including Audit & Risk Management and Planning & Transportation. He’s currently Chairman of Open Spaces & City Gardens, and of West Ham Park Committees, as well as being Deputy Chairman of Epping Forest & Commons Committee. Actively seeking new challenges and opportunities in 2017 in Information Risk Management and Information Security in the City of London.

Website: http://www.graeme.london/

Henry Nicholas Almroth Colthurst

Henry graduated in Law from Cambridge in 1980 and spent 15 years as an insurance broker before moving into underwriting management. From 2002 he took control of various syndicates in run-off in London and also Singapore. He has specialised in turn around of such businesses and resolution of major insurance claims in litigation most particularly the World Trade Center. An executive director of a Lloyd’s managing agent he is also a consultant for other Lloyd’s capital providers. He is married with three children and one grandson, is a keen lawn tennis player and lover of all things Italian. Non-pecuniary interests Member: Trusteee – City and Metropolitan/Governor – Mossbourne Parkside/Chairman – Mossbourne Federation of Schools/Assistant, Worshipful Company of Grocers/Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute/Member – Hackney Council Pensions Board.

Additional information from The Peerage (a genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe): Henry Nicholas Almroth Colthurst was born on 10 January 1959. He is the son of Sir Richard La Touche Colthurst, 9th Bt. and Janet Georgina Wilson-Wright. He married Sophia Selina Irene Hervey-Bathurst, daughter of Sir Frederick John Charles Gordon Hervey-Bathurst, 7th Bt. and Caroline Myrtle Starkey, on 5 June 1982. He was educated at Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England. He graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, with a Master of Arts (M.A.) He became a Liveryman of the Grocers’ Company.

James de Sausmarez

James joined the Court of Common Council in 2015. He is Director and Head of Investment Trusts at Henderson Global Investors and is responsible for all aspects of the business including the relationship between Henderson Global Investors and the Boards of the managed investment trusts, service delivery, primary and secondary sales and marketing and new business development. He is a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Outside appointments include Vice Chair of Governors at Queenswood School and the Council of St Paul’s Cathedral. Non-pecuniary interests Member: Queenswood School, Brookmans Park, Hatfield/Member, Council of St Paul’s Cathedral/Member, Bishopsgate Ward Club/Member, Castle Baynard Ward Club /Member, Candlewick Ward Club/Member, Royal Society of St George, City of London Branch/Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers/Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators/The Guild of Freemen of the City of London/Campaign for an English Parliament/Member – Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators/Member – Institute of Directors.

Additional information from The Peerage (a genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe): Havilland James de Sausmarez was born on 6 December 1958. He is the son of Reverend John Havilland Russell de Sausmarez and Maureen Francis Ruth Hemeon.

From ‘About Me’ on jamesdesausmarez.com: I am Director and Head of Investment Trusts at Henderson Global Investors and have worked in the investment management sector since 1986 specialising in investment trusts although I did spend some years as Chief Executive of Colonial First State Investments UK. I started my career as a graduate at the Central Electricity Generating Board where I qualified as a Chartered Secretary. The combination of this early training in a civil service like environment and my subsequent long career in investment management give me the organisational and communication skills needed to be an effective Common Councilman. Outside of work, I am a great believer in giving something back so I am the Vice-Chairman of Governors at Queenswood School in Hertfordshire where I chair the Finance Committee and the School Chapel Trustees. I am a keen Churchman and have in the past been a Churchwarden but my two current appointments are as a member of the Council of St Pauls Cathedral and the Investment Strategy Group of the London Diocese. I am active in two City Livery Companies and two Ward Clubs as well as other City organisations including the Candlewick Ward Club. My partner is Mrs Elizabeth Graham, who is a Maths Tutor and the mother of three children, two of whom work in the City. I have two children, a daughter who works as a beauty therapist and a son who has just graduated in Geology I am a keen tennis player, a regular fell walker and a bad golfer.

Website: https://www.jamesdesausmarez.com/

Paul Nicholas Martinelli

Appointments to outside bodies: City of London Archaeological Trust. Managing Director at P J Martinelli Ltd, 25 Central Markets, Smithfield (London EC1A 9LY), Non-pecuniary interests: member Farringdon Ward Club – member Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Butchers.

From the P. J. Martinelli website: PJ Martinelli Ltd (Est. 1988) supplies meat to Caterers, Catering Suppliers, Restaurants, Hotels, Pubs, Butchers and Local Government Caterers. We can supply any meat product and specialise in Scotch Beef, Dutch Veal, British Lamb and Pork at the very best prices.We offer a free butchery service and products can be prepared to specification and delivered the same day. The prices and products on this site are designed for our retail customers. Our wholesale customers should contact us directly. Visit us Mon-Friday 2am-11am or email your enquiry or order. We know everybody, we serve everybody and we provide the best quality and value! PJM02 (Est. 2008) also supplies the wholesale trade but specialises in selling meat to the general public. The public can buy any quantity of meat from us and we are happy to cut and prepare meat as part of our free butchery service. We supply mince, steaks, sausages chops, roasts, oxtails, belly pork, chicken and virtually any kind or cut of meat. Use our on-line order service and we will deliver to you free (For orders over £50) if you live within the M25 London Orbital.

From Companies House: PJ Martinelli Ltd. Company number 02102387. Previous company names: Halesign Limited. MARTINELLI, Paul Nicolas. Role Director. Date of birth September 1961. Nationality. British. Country of residence England. Occupation Meat Trader. According to Kompass the address of this business is 25 West Market Building Central Markets, London EC1A 9PS. Google gives the address as 25 Buyers Walk W Market, London EC1A 9PS. The company maintains a Facebook and a Twitter profile. It appears to have taken its name from Village Promotions Ltd company director Peter Joseph Martinelli, born December 1930.

Paul Martinelli was a director of Village Promotions 1992 Ltd, which was dissolved via compulsory strike-off on 22 September 2015 and had the company number 02347099. This directorship is not listed on Martinelli’s declaration of interests as published on Monday, 12th January 2015, prior to the company being dissolved and when he was still a director of it. See http://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/mgDeclarationSubmission.aspx?UID=1217&HID=2236&FID=0&HPID=0 and https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/L42jNbuEGdavUT-pZWXvbDFgKXw/appointments  – the click through the links.

Please note that when engaged in City of London politics Martinelli seems to spell his middle name Nicholas, but for business purposes it appears rendered as Nicolas (without an ‘h’). Comparing business involvements on Martinelli’s political declaration of interests against those registered with a discrepant spelling at Companies House brings up enough identical material to leave little room for doubt about this being just one person.

Robert Picton Seymour Howard

Robert Howard joined the Court of Common Council of the City of London in 2011 as a Councilman, before joining the Court of Aldermen in 2015. He has been a member of the Planning and Transportation Committee, the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, the Livery Committee, the Open Spaces Committee and the Investment Committee and the Financial Investment Board, of which he has chaired the last two. He has worked in the City since 1993 at Charles Stanley & Co Limited, one of the UK’s largest independent private client stockbroking and investment management firms, where he is a senior compliance officer involved in EU and UK financial services regulation. Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Gardeners and the Worshipful Company of Fletchers. Outside appointments include being a Governor of Capel Manor College in Enfield and a Trustee of Central Foundation Schools of London. Non-pecuniary interests: Worshipful Company of Gardeners/Worshipful Company of Fletchers/Lime Street Ward Club/Member of trade association: the Wealth Management Association (WMA)/City of London Club.

Additional information from The Peerage (a genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe): Robert Picton Seymour Howard was born on 28 January 1971. He is the son of Sir David Howarth Seymour Howard, 3rd Bt. and Valerie Picton Crosse. He married Lady Magdalen Katharine Asquith, daughter of Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith and Mary Clare Pollen, on 4 July 2015 at Mells, Somerset, England.

Biography from Howard’s website: I have worked for over 20 years at Charles Stanley, a listed investment management and stockbroking firm based in the City. I am the fourth generation of my family to work in the business and to be involved in the civic City. As a senior compliance officer and the policy adviser to the industry trade association, the Wealth Management Association, I focus on regulatory policy development in London and Brussels. This brings me into contact with other trade associations, as well as with the FCA, HM Treasury and the European Commission. I am aged 45 and am: a graduate of Oxford University and London Business School – and a Boxing ‘Blue‘/Upper Warden of the Lime Street & Cornhill Ward Club….

From Companies House: Director of 14-16 POW RTM Company Limited. Company number 08896883. Company address 14a Prince Of Wales Drive, London, SW11 4SF. Residents property management. This is not included on Howard’s declaration of interests published on 26 November 2015; he was appointed to the company on 17 February 2014. See http://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/mgDeclarationSubmission.aspx?UID=255&HID=2381&FID=0&HPID=504301780 and https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/NwZ4-UJ2-W5NTvEk1UsqqK8e3EQ/appointments

William Upton

William Upton is a barrister, based in the Temple, at 6 Pump Court. His expertise includes planning, environmental, and local government law, and he is current Secretary of the specialist bar association (PEBA). He is a former chair of Planning Aid for London. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge (M.A. and LL.M.). He has always been interested in promoting sustainable development and better environmental quality. Non-pecuniary interests: Planning Aid Trust (RIPI)/Sir James Reckitt Charity Trust/Fellow of Royal Society of Arts/Member of Town and Country Planning Association/Member of Amnesty International/Member of Planning Local Government & Environmental Bar Association/Honourable Society of the Inner Temple/Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association/UK Environmental Law Association/Member – Temple and Farringdon Together.

Pippa Henslowe.

NOTE: The image above shows the entrance to Bernard Morgan House, the demolition of which the City of London council both set in motion and then green lighted. The building is architecturally significant and this shot highlights the outstanding mid-century modernist tiling that constitutes just one part of its extraordinary design. If someone had spray painted ‘A.C.A.B.’ over this they’d have been hauled before the beak as a vandal; but it seems it’s okay for the Planning Committee to agree to its demolition because they’re ‘respectable’ men and women in suits.