Major redevelopment projects, race issues, and the pandemic will feature heavily for the committee in 2021/22 (Photo: Pixabay/Newsquest) Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, regeneration, and the impact of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement will be among the priorities for Harrow Council’s scrutiny committees over the next year. The annual scrutiny report, presented at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday, April 20), highlighted the key goals for 2021/22 following a period described as “one of the most challenging the council has ever faced”. In their joint foreword, committee chairman Cllr Sachin Shah (Lab, Queensbury) and vice-chairman Cllr Stephen Greek (Con, Harrow Weald), acknowledged a large part of the council’s working next year will be shaped by the impact of Covid-19.
Cllr Sachin Shah (inset) will no longer sit on Harrow Council s planning committee (Photo: Newsquest/Dick Barnatt) A former Harrow Council leader stepped down from his role as chairman of the planning committee due to a potential conflict of interest. Cllr Sachin Shah resigned after a brief stint heading the committee – for which he did not preside over a single meeting – after acknowledging his job outside the council could make his position “problematic”. In his register of interests, most recently signed off in November 2020, the Queensbury ward councillor disclosed he works for Curtin and Co, a “specialist consultancy in planning politics and community development”.