OPDC appoints new interim chief exec

Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation interim chief executive Michael Mulhern has left the organisation. He has been succeeded by City Hall’s David Lunts, who will also stay in his role of executive director of housing and land, combining his duties until a replacement is appointed. Lunts also leads work on establishing housing duties devolved from the Homes and Communities Agency and London Development Agency. He has worked for the GLA since 2005. His salary of £167,314 is publicly reported and is at least 48% higher than the top salary at the OPDC reported last year. The OPDC is responsible for the £26bn Old Oak regeneration scheme, and was last month embroiled in a furious row with local landowner Cargiant over its use of public finance and delays to development. Mulhern has been in the post since 16 April 2018, following the departure of Victoria Hills after almost three years as chief executive. The appointment of Lunts will be the organisation’s third acting chief executive in less than a year. A spokesperson for the GLA confirmed the appointment and said Mulhern’s choice to step away from the OPDC was for personal reasons unrelated to the project. In January, he told the board he was leaving the OPDC for a new role as director of service in South Dublin County Council. Before leaving, Mulhern proposed a restructure of the OPDC, using mayor-approved funds to hire additional team members. However, the hiring plan is subject to the development agency’s recent bid for £250m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund. Cargiant called for a public inquiry into the Old Oak regeneration plans. The company owns 46 acres of land at Old Oak Common and managing director Tony Mendes, said the unviable development has come at an “outrageously high cost to the public purse” and further grants would be “an unprecedented waste of public money”. A spokesperson for the London mayor hit back at the time saying: “These comments are barely worth the paper that they are written on. The mayor would be letting down Londoners if he allowed private sector vested interests to get in the way of the homes and jobs that Londoners need.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette