Minister faced new row over planning

HOUSING Secretary Robert Jenrick has faced fresh questions over a Tory donor’s rejected planning application that was reopened by his department just weeks after he took office.

Quinn Estates, a major Tory donor, wanted to build 675 homes in Sittingbourne, Kent, but met opposition from local residents and councillors. The case was taken over by the Housing Department a month after Mr Jenrick was promoted to Housing Secretary and is still live. After an investigation by the website

Open Democracy and The Mail on Sunday, Labour last night demanded Mr Jenrick explain the latest concerns around big donors to the Tories and planning permission granted by his department. But last night, he insisted he had not taken any decisions relating to the case.

Yet he did not respond to questions over whether he had ever met the development’s boss Mark Quinn or was aware of more than £110,000 his firms had donated to the Tories in recent years. Mr Quinn’s planning application was submitted in January 2019, and was rejected by Swale Borough Council in June of that year. A month later Mr Jenrick became the Housing Secretary and Quinn Estates also launched an appeal. Before it was concluded at a council level, the Housing Department took control of the decision-making process on August 13 of that year. That same month Quinn Estates made an £11,000 donation to the Tory coffers, with £26,500 donated in September and £14,000 soon after.

Mr Jenrick faces uproar over his decision to grant planning permission to Richard Desmond for a 1,500-flat development.

Last night, Labour said: ‘Robert Jenrick has yet more questions to answer about another cash-forfavours planning decision.’

A spokesman for Mr Jenrick said he has not taken any decisions relating to the Quinn appeal. Quinn Estates did not respond to a request for comment.