West Ken: High Court prompts catty response

Not Melbourne Barrett

"May I assure you that officers and the Council’s legal advisers are acutely aware of your determination to seize on any point, large or small, that you perceive may assist in your campaign to stop the proposed development. The Council respects your democratic right to campaign in this way but does not accept that your detailed points add up to a case that the Council is behaving unreasonably or unlawfully. We will do our best to ensure that, on our side, the tone of the correspondence remains cordial at all times".

Miaw. The magnificently named Melbourne Barrett has shown his claws in this catty letter to Jonathan Rosenberg, the community organiser fighting the corner of the residents of the West Ken & Gibbs Green Estate that Melbourne, his councillors and a property developer called CapCo want to knock down.

The letter is all the more notable coming from a man who seemed to disappear from the face of the Earth after having been referred to the residents as one of their main points of contact. What followed was the bizarre smoke and mirrors game, including the imposition of a 45 minute time limit to view almost 1,000 forms, on the grounds of "data protection". Derek Myers, the Chief Executive of our Council, had to weigh in and overrule his officers on that one.

So what prompted Melbourne Barrett to re-appear and explain that both he and what seems like all of his officers were off on annual leave for the best part of the last month? Oh, and that their email systems were on the blink?

An answer may be found in the fact our local authority is now being prosecuted over their approach to this development in the High Court, an action led by the same solicitors that defeated the council over the Goldhawk Road development. The only people left purring after that court case were the Goldhawk Road traders. And of course the well paid barristers, who were paid by our Council after their loss with your money. Here we go again... J Rosenberg Ltr 22 06 12