10:24am Wednesday 1st September 2010
I have some sympathy for Martin Hunt.
Unquestionably, in May 2008, when Liberal Democrats won control of Colchester Town Hall and he took on Firstsite, he was given the keys to Pandora’s box.
However, to claim most of the background information about the ill-fated Golden Blunder was made public during the period he and others were portfolio holders for Firstsite is wide of the mark.
Yes, some of the information (like the Firstsite roof) leaked, that much is true.
The information coming out though was due to the combined efforts of regular contributors to this newspaper.
The Information Commissioner’s threat to prosecute Colchester Council was initiated by an application on March 8, 2008, when the previous Tory administration was in power.
Earlier applications for information were also bluntly refused. The applicant (and residents of Colchester) had to wait more than two years for information to be disclosed.
The council was finally ordered to reveal details of the various faults on May 12, 2010. Some of these faults were reported in this paper on June 8, 2010.
The evidence the council was required to disclose should have been in the public domain when the application was made in March 2008.
If it had been, we all would have known the utter chaos the project was in at least two years earlier.
At no time during the intervening period was the information disclosed.
You may ask how I know – as the person who made the application to the council, you may think I would have been among the First to be told.
Malcolm Mattack
Broom Way
Abberton
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