In a "stunning twist to the Millwall CPO debacle," newly released documents show that Lewisham Council and its offshore-registered developer Renewal admitted making a series of false claims on "funding pledges" which it described as "jumping the gun" while securing a £20M grant from then-London Mayor Boris Johnson to "implement the land-grab scheme," according to Barney Ronay of the London GUARDIAN. The news came on the same day Lewisham Mayor Steve Bullock "quit his position as a director of the sporting foundation at the heart of the scheme amid rising public pressure." Plans to seize Millwall’s land around The Den as part of the New Bermondsey regeneration "were put on hold last month." The latest revelations are "perhaps the most serious so far and involve the housing zone status secured for the development" from Johnson in '15. The award of £20M in loan funding provided the project with "access to a huge injection of public money and a major rubber stamp of authenticity." However, close inspection has "revealed the housing zone bid application contains a series of false and inaccurate claims" submitted “in partnership” between Renewal and Lewisham Council. The revelation of false information in a grant application for £20M of public money "will leave a series of grave unanswered questions." Most "striking" is the suggestion the false claims of Sport England funding "remained uncorrected despite Sport England writing to the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation," whose directors include Bullock, in Sept. '14 asking it to stop claiming to have money "pledged." In total, the bid "contains 31 mentions of Sport England." The application claims that the scheme has "significant financial investment from the developer (Renewal) and Sport England." In fact, Sport England has "no funding agreement in relation to the scheme nor is there an application in progress" (GUARDIAN, 2/14).
