Council now facing misfeasance claim
COURT: East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been accused of misfeasance in public office following the collapse of a court case. A dozen individuals have been named in a letter over the Lakeminster Park development.
EAST RIDING of Yorkshire Council has been accused of misfeasance in public office following the collapse of a court case earlier this year.
A dozen individuals at the council, which is based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, have been named in a letter warning of High Court proceedings over the longrunning saga of the Lakeminster Park development.
The claim is being threatened by site owner William Flannigan, who was cleared at Hull Crown Court of 10 counts of fraud in April over claims he missold chalets at the holiday park near Beverley.
An employee of Flannigan Enterprises Ltd and former residents of the retirement park are also potential plaintiffs in the case.
The letter from Manchesterbased Ralli Solicitors says that Mr Flannigan has been “fully exonerated which has resulted in the council being seriously questioned”.
It is understood the value of the claim, if successful, could run into millions of pounds, to cover the loss of income, legal fees and reputational damage.
The letter alleges that officials “exercised their powers in bad faith” and worked against Mr Flannigan “out of malice towards the developer” to “protect their own shortcomings and ensuing liability.”
It claims: “To this end the residents were pawns in this game by a public body tasked with acting with candour and transparency.”
One element of the claim is the council’s alleged failure to bring enforcement proceedings until 2011, despite being “clearly on notice” in the words of Judge Paul Watson QC who presided in the Flannigan case, that homes on the park “were being occupied on a residential basis in breach of the planning consent from the middle of 2008.”
One of the complainants is a Lakeminster employee who emailed the council’s licensing department in November 2008, with concerns about the terms of the planning permission and 12month occupancy.
She was informed her first email had been passed to the enforcement section.
However it is alleged that the council referred the case to the police, without supplying the emails.
She was arrested in 2013 and kept on bail until more than a year later when she was told no charges were being brought.
It is further alleged that officials “entirely omitted” an enforcement file from 2008 from criminal statements “demonstrating a collusion within ERYC to suppress their own culpability/ failings/agreements”.
The letter concludes: “We are very concerned that the council could not only have acted earlier but (until an application for an extension by the developer) had accepted ‘residential’ living in all but name upon the existing Lakeminster Park.
“In fact the council chose to entirely work against the residents out of malice towards the developer and in this process, protect their own shortcomings and ensuing liability.”
Last month Court of Appeal judges dismissed appeals against Communities Secretary Sajid Javid and ERYC brought by former resident Alan Coates, who has been the leading light of the fight to keep homes on the Lakeminster Park complex.
The council is continuing to take enforcement action to clear the site.
A spokesman for Lakeminster Park Ltd said: “We confirm a letter of claim has been sent to the chief executive of ERYC concerning misfeasance in public office.
“We do not wish to comment further at this stage as ERYC has 28 days in which to respond and an offer of mediation has been made.”
A spokesman for the East Riding of Yorkshire Council said that a letter has been received and the council would now be considering its position.
The residents were pawns in this game by a public body. A letter alleging misfeasance in public office against East Riding of Yorkshire Council.