Bog-gate - The Stench is Getting Worse and Worse.....

Back in 2004 two gentlemen purchased a large factory unit in Wellesley Road, Oldbury. The rest of the street consists of two-storey terraced houses. The purchasers lost no time in putting in an application for outline planning permission to demolish the factory unit and build 12 two-storey houses (DC/04/43383). The applicant was stated to be "A & Q Homes".

The policy at the time meant that the industrial use of these premises should have been safeguarded. The initial report to the planning committee was against the application but after some ups and downs the comrades granted the application on 7th March, 2007.

But our friends got greedy. Within five days they had put in a new application using the name "Q & A Builders" - this time to demolish and then build two apartment blocks containing 35 small flats (DC/07/47613). Unfortunately things went wrong not least because an outside agency, The Health and Safety Executive , objected and the application was refused.

I am told that the factory units then "went on fire" as they say in Glasgow. (There is a curious tale about that which, alas, will have to wait for another day....)

What, you might say, has all this to do with the bogs? Permit me to re-cap:

1. Three disused toilet blocks sat empty and unmarketed. Mr Abdul Naeem Quyam (also "Abdul Quyam") mysteriously made an offer. Labour Sandwell did not seek to auction the blocks or take alternative offers. They sold them for £35,000 to Quyam.

2. Two officers of Sandwell Council - Willetts and Wendling - provided me with incorrect information concerning this sale pursuant to a formal Freedom of Information request.

3. Labour paid £1,200 for an independent valuation report which valued the bogs at £130,000. Labour Cabinet Member Ian Jones lied about this report live on the Adrian Goldberg Show on BBC WM.

Now this all stinks and I have been trying to see if there is any connection between Mr Quyam and Sandwell Council.

I believe that there is a family link between Qayum and a Labour Councillor but am unable to confirm that. I have certain enquiries in hand but still seek your help. I believe Abdul Naeem Quyam was born on 16th August, 1979 in Rotherham and that he has at least one other brother, Abdul Amean born in Sheffield on 26th October, 1997. I am very anxious to establish that they also have a sister, Nigat Loreen, born Rotherham in early, 1982......

There are some curious "coincidences" that have arisen here too. Quyam marketed at least two of the bog blocks via "Futures Estates". Quyam runs a company called "Futures Eco-Systems Limited". Amean runs a company called F.P.M. (UK) Limited believed to trade as "Futures Property Management". Entirely coincidentally, Cllr Mahboob Hussain's son has just bought the old Coroner's Office in Smethwick from Sandwell Labour and registered it at the Land Registry as "Futures House" (see blogs passim).

And here is a new one. Quyam sought planning permission in respect of one of the sets of bogs and used an agent, Anthony "Barrie" Hope. Again, entirely coincidentally, Mr Hope is also the agent on at least four planning applications for Cllr Mahboob Hussain's son. Now I will give you one guess who was the agent in respect of both planning applications relating to the factory unit...... Yes, you've got it in one!

Now I have never been able to make any link between Abdul Naeem Quyam and another gentleman with a similar name, Abdul Quyyam who was born on 7th January, 1962 and who lives at xx North Street, Dudley. I still cannot say what, if any, family relationship there is between them. But this is the name of the registered owners of the Wellesley Road factory unit at HM Land Registry:

Registered Owners: Abdul Quyam and Abdul Quyyam of xx North Street, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 7DU.

They paid £365,000 for the unit.

Now it is just possible that "Abdul Quyam" is a different person to Abdul Quyam of Bog-gate infamy and I will be happy to set the record straight if there is a discrepancy. If he is one and the same person then this is odd as he uses two address in Warley Road, Oldbury (see my blog of 15/09/14 about that tangled web). One of the properties, number 42, is a Sandwell Council house. I am assuming that he is not the tenant since I would have thought having a half-share in a £365,000 property might just make him ineligible for council housing.....

And what of Mr Abdul Quyyam of Dudley? Together with his wife, Kaneez Begum, and another relative (probably a son who is also listed as living at xx North Street) Amar Quyyam, this family group own 50% of the shares in Five Star Taxi and Minibuses Limited. The other 50% is, of course, owned by Labour Cllr Mahboob Hussain and his wife.

Coincidences eh?

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