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11th
February
2004
Critters Conflict of Interest? - Councillor Fraser MacNamara responds
We also published the gist of an unusual statement by Cllr. MacNamara: Cllr. Fraser MacNamara then announced that he understood that there was a potential buyer for the lease on the Centre. He explained that he did not want to prejudice negotiations by revealing details, particularly as it was not a Council matter because Critters is run independently as a Limited Company. However, his understanding was that the prospective purchaser wanted to use the facility for a similar purpose to that currently in place, possibly with the same personnel. We say unusual because the Councillor, a skilled lawyer who will be well aware of the damage that accusations of conflict of interest - whether well founded or not - can cause, appeared to be saying that it was none of the Council's business, while at the same time displaying knowledge of recent conversations between potential buyer and seller. Following the meeting Yampy received disturbing allegations that Mr. MacNamara's own law firm, Blount MacNamara, was acting on behalf of the prospective purchaser. Because a simplistic and no doubt uncharitable take on such a situation would be that the person who is blocking payment of a grant has something to gain from the subsequent predicament of the leaseholder, we contacted the Councillor. He gave Yampy the following statement, which we reprint in full: If a purchaser is to be represented by Blount Macnamara it would be by other persons having no contact with myself (Indeed I personally have no contact with or professional relationship with any prospective purchaser) on the matter and I would have no input into discussions with Officers in relation to the purchase. Any Lead Member involvement would be by the Leader of the Council and The Director of the Urban Environment and would specifically exclude myself. We understand that client confidentiality rules prevent Cllr. Macnamara from going into further detail on the record. Yampy has no axe to grind against Cllr. MacNamara; indeed, we consistently praised his chairmanship of the North Dudley Area Committee, which has gone to rack and ruin since he had to vacate the role following his appointment to the Culture and Leisure top job. However, we are most surprised that someone of his experience would allow himself to drift into a position where there is even a hint of "there's something's not right here" in the air. Surely the best way to show good faith would be to approve the grant? newsdesk@yampy.co.uk. --> |
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