Manorbier.com
£7000 of Manorbier Community Council precept has been spent so far on defending a claim from ICT Marketing for work carried out by that company on a village appraisal organised through the Regeneration Department of Pembrokeshire County Council.
With legal fees rising rapidly by the hour (and solicitors usually charge about £120 to £175 per hour) the Manorbier Community Council advised a local community charge payer ( ratepayer ) that the cost of legal fees, on this case, to date, have been in excess of £7000. The decision to defend the claim was taken by the Council after it was originally presented with an invoice from ICT Marketing for work they alleged had been authorised for them to carry out on behalf of the Community Council. Now and resulting from the decision to discuss this matter only in confidential council sessions the public are less aware than before. But we do know that ICT Marketing were also claiming interest on the outstanding bill and it is now nearly eighteen months since the Council contested the ICT Marketing invoice.
Manorbier Community Council required over £30,000 to run their operations for the 06/07 year. So will the final charges for legal fees exceed the 23 % budgeted figure set by the council?
We suggest that the Council having already spent about £7000 on this case must have decided that they have a strong case and will endure to recuperate the cost of defending the action for the non payment of the ICT Marketing invoice.