Conwy CCBC

Cllr John Oddy has posted this on his blog:

"Once again the Council have shown their contempt for the people in Colwyn Bay. I informed you, the readers, of CCBC intentions to secretly buy properties in Colwyn Bay, namely the old indoor market and a property in Douglas Road; what I didn’t know at the time was that an offered had already been made by a local buyer (I will not print his name as I feel that would be unfair) on the house in Douglas Road, his offer of £60,000 had been accepted by the vendor and the sale was proceeding. The estate agents were Stirlings of Colwyn Bay but, somehow, CCBC must have got to hear of the offer because at the Cabinet meeting the reason for a Schedule 12 was.... “NONE DISCLOSURE- Disclosure could prejudice the negotiations between the Council and the Owners and potentially delay the acquisition of the properties for which there is a tight timetable for purchase.” NOTE: tight timetable”

Gareth Peters, CCBC Principal Property Services approached the buyer and offered him £1,000 as a “Consultation fee” to pull out of the deal, as the buyer pointed out, his expenses and solicitor’s fees came to considerably more than that and to accept that would leave him out of pocket. CCBC then put in an offer of £70,000 thereby gazumping the local buyer who immediately upped his offer. This resulted in the vendor asking for sealed bids, the local buyer took his bid into the solicitor’s office where it was immediately opened, why? The information inside was commercially sensitive as the amount of the offer could be passed-on to interested parties and thereby negating the reason for a sealed bid.

From day one I have said this entire issue stinks, it is full of secrecy, lies and deceit now, if I am correct in my assumptions, a breach of the Council’s own Code of Conduct. It appears there is no depth to which the Council will not stoop to push through their inward looking proposals in using the Regeneration Grant, all to their own ends.

I am in receipt of all the documentation that backs-up my allegations and I have forwarded copies to the Chairman of the Council demanding a full explanation into the, at least morally corrupt, conduct of the Council and its Officers. The least the Council can do is compensate the local buyer or pull-out of the deal and allow him to continue with his original purchase."

Let's see what happens...