Newcastle
property company Lugano Group has now formally served a writ detailing
particulars of its claim against Councillor Peter Jackson (Leader of
Northumberland County Council), Councillor John Riddle (Portfolio Holder) and
on the Chief Executive (Daljit Lally) following documents being issued in the
High Court in London. Papers have also been served on Northumberland County
Council as it is vicariously liable in the case for their actions.
The
Company’s case is that the 3 individuals have acted improperly and unlawfully,
abusing their powers and authority as public officers of the Council. It is
Lugano’s position that the unlawful conduct of the 3 individuals amounts to
Misfeasance in Public Office and as such has caused Lugano a serious financial
loss and damages amounting to almost £10 million.
Company
owner, Allan Rankin, commented: -
“We
have fully and openly detailed our concerns in our previous Letter Before
Claim. Neither the Council nor the individuals concerned have responded
to that in any meaningful or material way and our offers to meet on a without
prejudice basis have been ignored. In the circumstances, we have now served
formal proceedings and will pursue our case with the utmost rigour to ensure
these individuals are held to account for their outrageous and unlawful conduct
that brings the name and reputation of Northumberland County Council, and
indeed local government as a whole, into disrepute.
“We
have also referred our concerns and all our supporting evidence to the Police”.
Lugano’s
Executive Chairman, Richard Robson, added: -
“Dissington
Garden Village is a highly regarded project that will act as a driver of
economic growth, a creator of new jobs and a means of delivering much needed
affordable homes and infrastructure improvements. It previously enjoyed
the full support of Northumberland County Council and was progressing in line
with the Government’s own objective to deliver exemplar Garden Communities
until a few individuals sought to unlawfully disrupt the proper planning
processes. Our objective remains to continue to work in partnership with
Northumberland County Council to deliver Dissington Garden Village in
accordance with the decision of their own strategic Planning Committee; the
Government’s Garden Communities Programme and the region’s need to deliver
economic growth and homes in sustainable locations and the decision of Northumberland
County Council’s own strategic Planning Committee which voted to grant planning
permission in March 2017.”
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