A COUNCIL has strongly defended its actions in negotations aimed at securing a multi-million pound purchase of a shopping centre as a potential investment.

The Forest of Dean District Council pulled out of the investment in a retail park in Worcestershire last week, blaming an increase in Government lending rates to local authorities.

The withdrawl came after a series of behind doors meetings of the full council which led to a war of words between the Conservative Party group and the Cabinet.

In a statement, a council spokesman said that, after due diligence, the authority were terminating their interest in the scheme, which they hoped would raise money needed to set the new Budget for the year from February.

They already own an industrial unit in Witney, Oxfordshire, as an investment and expected this scheme to raise big figures for their coffers.

The Conservative group last week accu- sed the council’s Cabinet of acting ‘like a communist politburo’ for not making detailed minutes of the first closed meeting of the full council available on September 26.

But a leading Cabinet member hit back at the accusations, calling the comments ‘erroneous’, and a council statement added to the rebuttal.

The statement said: “The Forest of Dean District Council strong- ly refutes allegations made in today’s (October 30) local press about councillors and Cabinet members’ conduct.

“In response to accusations attributed to members of the Conservative Group in The Forester newspaper that the Cabinet has been ‘engaged in secretive and potentially illegal behaviour’, the council would like to state that at each stage throughout the discussions, appropriate advice has been taken from officers and external consultants.

“All decision making (with the exception of the decision not to proceed with the investment) has taken place at council, during which members from all political parties have been included at each key stage and given opportunity to input into the process after facts have been presented.

“Before consideration at full council, there was a member briefing held to ensure that members were fully aware of the investment proposal.

“The Cabinet has ensured that members have had sufficient opportunities at appropriate times throughout to express their views on the project as well as the process.

“Had any councillor had concerns about the conduct and legality of the process, they are able to offer those concerns to the monitoring officer, the section 151 officer or the legal and estates team.

“No such concerns were ever raised.

“The council and the Cabinet take the allegations made this morning extremely seriously and are considering any legal implications and options.”