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Manorbier Community Council, 1st March 2007
Council receives claim for £250,000 damages for defamation and slander from Debbie Garside of ICT Marketing Ltd During the public session a member of the public asked Cllr Wales if an article downloaded from the internet regarding a possible claim of £250,000 for defamation and slander had been received by Manorbier Community Council from ICT Marketing. Cllr Wales informed the member that he had in fact received the claim from ICT Marketing and would be discussing in during correspondence not wishing to discuss it during the public participation session. The member of the public was adamant that he did not wish this to be discussed in closed or secret session as it was already in the public domain and to which Cllr Wales replied "it would be discussed in open session unless the council decided otherwise". By the time the letter was eventually discussed by the council the majority of the members of the public had left the meeting and there where only three members of the public present. The letter revolved around the successful claim that the company had made against Manorbier Community Council over an unpaid invoice from ICT Marketing and the resulting affect it had had on the ICT Marketing and Debbie Garside. The text of the letter as it appears on the internet is reproduced below.
Cllr Calver wanted to know how this item happened to appeared on the internet. When the council did discuss the letter from Debbie Garside of ICT Marketing two of the three councillors Wales, Neads & Coleman who attended the court hearing and had volunteered to deal with matters during the court proceedings contributed. Cllr Neads , who along with Cllr Wales having sole delegated power to work with the Solicitors, criticised and accused Cllr Griffiths and Cllr Pellowe of stabbing the council in the back and perjuring themselves in court and considered that by their actions the judge ruled against the council. Cllr Neads also accused Cllr Griffiths for not declaring an interest in connection with ICT Marketing during discussions in council. Cllr Neads whilst in his critical mood suggested that if the solicitors had not had ignored his advice, which was to take a more aggressive and forceful attitude when questioning witnesses called by ICT Marketing in court, the community council would not have lost the case. He revealed that explanations given him by the solicitors to spurn his advice was because in their opinion "the judge would not have liked it". Cllr Neads then suggested that if the council was to defend the claim now before it they should engage a firm of solicitors more suitable for this type of work and thought it would be more beneficial for the community council to engage the services of one of two solicitors in Manchester who he had already contacted. He then intimated to councillors that he would be supplying the name of his solicitor to ICT Marketing and would be quiet happy to supply their name to other councillors if they wished to use their services. Cllr Wales said he would not be replying to ICT marketing as in his opinion it would be a waste of money as he felt they had no case. Cllr Neads then advised the council that he would be capable of representing the council's position in court. Cllr Coleman was dismissive of any possible legal action and proposed that a simple letter be forwarded to Ms Garside informing her that the council would discuss it at the next monthly meeting. This development has apparently been considered newsworthy and the BBC have taken up the story beyond the earlier web article. Their coverage has been on the BBC TV, Welsh Regional News Ceefax of Friday 2nd March 2007 and additional information is provided on the webcast presentation of the same date. A text only reproduction of the webcast is given below.
Resignations from the Council The council received resignations from Councillor Pellowe, formally Cllr Thompson, and from Cllr John at this meeting. Cllr Calver and Davies asked why the resignation of Cllr Griffiths who had resigned in December 2006 had not been notified to the PCC Elections Office in Haverfordwest. Cllr Neads said that the job he was doing as proper officer was voluntary and he would not be prioritising the council affairs over his business commitments. Cllr Calver challenged Cllr Neads that he should not have volunteered to take on the role if he was unable to carry it out in a proper and professional manner. Cllr Neads stated that he had been in contact with the Election Ofice earlier in the day ( Thursday 1st March ) concerning the resignation of Cllr Pellowe. (It must be noted that Cllr Neads has ignored the instruction of the council to advertise the position of temporary clerk which he has been instructed to do on several occasions whilst the permanent clerk is taking the council to an Employment Tribunal. No reports of the case to date have been supplied to the full council by Cllr Neads. ) It was felt by other councillors that Cllr Wales had failed in his duty to notify the council of the resignation of Cllr Pellowe as she had resigned on the 17th January 2007 which was before an earlier council meeting. Website Comments. Could there be some hidden agenda in Cllr Wales's withholding resignations from the council and the Elections Office? Planning Permission The planning applications were put ahead of some other business on request. The meeting was well attended by members of the parish who reside in the Wheelers Way and Windy Ridge areas as a planning application had been submitted for a proposed housing development in their location. Mr. Howard Lloyd, a local resident, when advised by Cllr Calver that the area of the application had been included in the JUDP as a settlement area was concerned that he had never been consulted regarding the JUDP plan. Cllr Calver explained the process of the consultation and was aware that many residents, not only of Manorbier but in the wider area covered by the JUDP plan, also felt that they had not been consulted. In fact the JUDP had been discussed by the community council on several occasions. Cllr Davies suggested that perhaps because of general apathy towards the community council that people only attend meetings when issues come to light that personally affect them, then they show an interest. He then stated that "it was open for anyone to make representation regarding the JUDP plan and it was no good complaining now at this late stage. Other topics discussed included Data Protection Act - No renewal to be made. Membership Payment to One Voice Wales - £138.00 agreed. Christmas Tree Lights Electric charge - £25.00 ( approximately 250 kWh ) - when challenged over the amount Cllr Wales suggested that it was based on what we had always paid in the past. Payment for Hire of Parish Hall - £10.00 agreed Jameston Community Association A request was made by the Association for financial aid, Cllr Neads proposed that as Jameston Association had failed to comply with provisions of their previous application that had been granted, which was that they had to produce their accounts to the council, he was unwilling to consider the matter further. Cllr Wales supported his Proper Officer in the position he was taking and suggested that a letter is written advising the Association of the conditions for grant funding for any organisation including Community Associations. Correspondence Cllr Davies suggested that the proper procedure that would ensure that all council documentation were stored and available for inspection by the electorate should be that all items are handled by the responsible officer and recorded which is the accepted standard procedure for the proper running of a community council. Correspondence items included, Night firing Condtions of Planning and Noise monitoing information - for discussion at April meeting. Notice Board provision by Army - allied to the Army conditions above the 50:50 shared cost for notice boards at Manobier, Lydstep & Jameston was discussed with resolution to write to the Army rejecting this aspect as no costs were known and the potential to finalise the project by the end of March was not possible. Re-cycling site in Manorbier - reconsidered. Increase in National Park parking fees for Manorbier to be £3.00 per stay. Need for resident permits raised. Communication from Police Fraud Unit on their criminal investigations into the Village Questionnaire corruption - letter from police unit was read out by Cllr Wales: A file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service ( CPS ) for them to examine the case to decide if any prosecutions should follow. The CPS have decided that there is insufficient evidence to establish a realistic prospect of convictions against any of the alleged suspects. Therefor no further actions will be taken. The correspondence was taken in chronological order with Cllr's Wales and Neads taking it in turns to read out the correspondence that each had received individually. The style of their presentation followed that of the 'The Two Ronnies' but without the final, it's Good Bye from me, and it's Good Bye from him. |