NO SCANDAL, EH?

But there is sufficient evidence of an idiotic lack of business acumen as Councilor Eathorne-Gibbons passes the buck to an obviously irritated Councilor Dwelly.

(By Graham Smith)

There was nothing “scandalous” about the arrangements which allowed a property developer to make a profit of £1.35 million on a small piece of land needed for Truro New Town, Cornwall Council insisted this afternoon (Tuesday.)

The land deal, at Penstraze, off the A390 at Langarth, west of Truro, saw developers Inox rake in £33,750 per month simply by watching the grass grow.  In 2016 Inox bought the land for £100,000.  Forty months later, Inox sold the identical small patch of land to the council for £1.45 million.

The council’s cabinet member responsible for Truro New Town, councillor Tim Dwelly, told members he was concerned about discussing the deal in public because he feared some elements of it might be commercially confidential.  “There seems to be a concerted effort to come at Langarth from different angles,” he said.  “Every time someone claims to have found some new scandal, it’s always been answered.  Every time.  There was no scandal.”

The land is also subject to a restrictive covenant, limiting future development to residential use.  The council now wants to use the site for a road, and is preparing to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to get the covenant lifted.

Deputy leader of the council, councillor Adam Paynter, agreed with Mr Dwelly and insisted that no mistakes had been made.  “We took legal advice,” he said.  “Mel O’Sullivan (the council’s top lawyer) was very well aware of what was going on.”

(HOW REASSURING) not!

But Conservative councillors are continuing to press for answers.

“There is nothing confidential about this deal,” said councillor Stephen Rushworth, “the land transfer documents are all in the public domain already.

They are at the Land Registry.

“No commercial property company would ever behave in this way.  A mistake has been made and we are entitled to know how you are going to fix it. You need to get your heads out of the clouds because you are playing by big boys’ rules now.”

Mr Rushworth said the council should now publish the legal advice which Mr Paynter had referred to.

Fellow Conservative councillor David Harris had asked council leader Julian German for an explanation, but Mr German denied any knowledge of the land deal.

Fellow cabinet member Mike Eathorne-Gibbons initially promised a written answer, but then decided that it was not his portfolio and passed the issue to Mr Dwelly.

OBSERVATIONS FROM A MEMBER OF THE CORNWALL COUNCIL AUDIT COMMITTEE.

Cornwall Council administration continues to dodge questions about controversial Langarth development

Questions have been raised about the competency of senior councillors at County Hall after both the Leader of Cornwall Council and the councillor responsible for housing were unable to answer questions on the controversial Langarth development.

At today’s Full Council meeting Truro councillor David Harris asked the following of the council’s leader:

“You will have seen [the recent news article] which points out that when this Council spent £36 million buying land at Langarth at the start of lockdown it paid £1.45 million for a small piece of land over which it intends to build a road.”

“It now appears that the building of this very road is precluded by a covenant on the land which the Council will now have to pay what is probably a very significant sum to get out of.”

“Looking at the publicly available Land Registry documents there seems to be little doubt about this. So can I ask a couple of very simple questions;

Who, specifically, signed the relevant purchase contract?

Who, at Cabinet and Officer level approved the contract, in view of the amounts involved I would be amazed if this wasn’t at the most senior level.

What legal advice, both internal and external, was provided about this issue and was the advice followed

Are you happy that there are not any similar “wonderful deals” waiting to bite us in the behind”’

Bizarrely the Leader answered by saying he knew nothing about the issue but would provide a written reply. The Councillor responsible for Housing then stepped in, but said that he had nothing to add, and that a written response would be forthcoming.

However within 15 minutes of this response the deputy leader of Cornwall Council said that “we did know all about this matter and everything was properly considered at the right time.”

Speaking after the debate, Councillor Harris said:

“I almost cannot believe that the Leader would not know what was going on about this large and strategic development, either at the time the questionable decisions were made or that he would not have been briefed on what was in the press which could quite possibly give rise to a question at today’s Full Council meeting.”

“If this is the case then what on earth is going on where the Deputy Leader seems to know about fairly important commercial decisions of which the Leader has no knowledge? Surely a matter where a commercial view on such a major application has to be taken would come to Cabinet”

“I look forward to getting the full and substantive replies in time and will continue to speak up on this issue on behalf of the Cornish taxpayer if the administration is unwilling or unable to manage itself properly.”

For more information contact Councillor David Harris:

Mobile:  07900 054924

Email:  david.harris@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk

From one parish councillor who seems to agree :

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I watched the whole full council meeting yesterday, Tuesday 24th November, hoping to see some positivity, however I was disappointed as it was mainly a cosmetic display rather than an experience to inspire confidence in our administrators. The only positivity I saw came from a handful of members who dared to speak up; sadly the majority were seemingly on mute and happy with the shenanigans that were going on.

I must admit many did speak in support of the Hayle roundabout/devilment project, with no mention or realisation of the council officers’ pressurising conduct now being experienced by landowners who are unwilling to sell. This issue is a long way from finished.

The most cosmetic of all was officers’ CV-enhancing “crystal ball plans” for the county’s future, namely "The Cornwall We Want - A 2020-2050 plan" document, which awakened those who previously appeared to be asleep and brought a range of opinions from several members; sadly, the majority offered benign statements, and exactly what officers wanted. However, there were some who questioned the lack of fine print and logic whilst forgetting the grassroots problems that should take priority, none more so than the lack of democratic process, transparency, accountability, the unacceptable leadership and the lack of prudence involving the use of taxpayers’ money. Other concerns included road conditions and potholes, air quality, recycling and lack of sincerity about tackling climate change, none of which should be swept under the table, as we need these addressed for “the Cornwall We Want”.

Then we had the Langarth fiasco still rumbling along its controversial path of management and financial chaos. The latest to surface being officers spending £1.35million of taxpayers’ money on a small piece of land previously purchased by developers for £100,000 just 5 years earlier! This piece of land still has a covenant on it which will prove costly to remove before the land can be used. Questions from a brave member highlighted that whereas the deputy leader was involved in the transaction, the leader was not even aware of it!

It was not disclosed who signed the purchase contract or who approved the deal. What a shambles!

What is apparent is that members were not involved, and as usual, when controversy is on the menu, the Chief Executive (Kate Kennally) was conspicuous by her absence. Why do we pay her a salary similar to the UK Prime Minister’s for the continuation of a level of governance that fails to practice accountability, transparency, prudent use of our taxes and following the democratic process; as things stand, we are not getting value for our money and this conduct makes Cornwall Council not fit for purpose.

I did not see much to influence or excite voters for next year’s council elections, only disappointment.

Kind regards