An Extraordinary Crier Report
THE OFFICIAL MINUTES of the June PC meeting mentioned that a letter had been written to the Chairman about my Crier report on the May PC meeting. The Minutes record:
"The members of the PC expressed concern that their comments in relation to this application at the May meeting had been reported in such an exaggerated way as to offend a village resident."
I admit my Crier report was biased. IT WAS BIASED IN FAVOUR OF FRANK. Because he is such a helpful person throughout the village, and is always willing to offer advice and to be supportive, I deliberately quoted only the first part of his web advertisement. I thought that the PC being aware of it would be sufficient. My report should have been as follows:-
"During consideration of a planning application the Chairman passed around a single copy of a letter from Caroline Matheson containing the text of the web advertisement asking for any available land. It also said "IF ANYONE CAN GET YOU PLANNING PERMISSION I CAN, THOUGH I NEED AN OPTION TO BUY YOUR LAND IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO PAY MY FEE!"
"Her letter circulated slowly from member to member. "Oooooooh Deeeeear" said one member. Each person appeared to ponder it very carefully and most (which is not uncommon) made no comment. "Um, well", muttered another, accompanied by a lengthy sucking of teeth. After a very protracted look and consideration another member concluded, "Well, the only thing you can say is that it's not illegal." Then the letter made its way back round the table and another member said "We'll have to make sure everyone knows about this", and he passed it back to the Chairman."
That is how my report would have ended. And I wish now I had written it thus, especially as the official PC Minutes of the May meeting made no mention of Caroline Matheson's letter. It had been swept under the carpet in a way that I suspect may offend the village residents in question when they find out.
I do not know what FR wrote in his letter to the PC but I do think he should have declared his potential conflict of interests - just as a collector of antiques advising someone how to dispose of furniture should not hide the fact that he is actually a dealer and not just an amateur collector. Such undeclared professional interests do inevitably provoke questions such as "Was he working for No 5?" or "Will this help his portfolio by showing he can get an application through in spite of all the opposition?". One might have thought it had been a "fair cop", that there could have been a few generous words about a "misunderstanding", a shake of hands, and a line drawn under the issue. Alas, FR's complaint to the PC appears to show this is not to be.