THE chief executive of Craven District Council has sought to reassure councillors over his decision to buy a house from the authority's own development partner.

Paul Shevlin has revealed in an email to councillors that he is buying a house in Lovell's Lambert Hills development, on the site of the former council offices in Granville Street, Skipton.

"I have not gained or sought to gain any benefit from my position and the purchase price is a matter of public record," he told the Craven Herald.

The Lambert Hills development is part of the scaled-down Skipton Developments project, which could also see Lovell building around 100 homes next to the canal at Horse Close in a deal with the council worth around £ 3.5 million.

The Lambert Hills development, which is due to be completed in the autumn, has proved controversial with residents of Granville Street and surrounding roads, who have complained of repeated breaches of planning conditions.

In his email, Mr Shevlin explained he was informing councillors because of possible issues with the Granville Street site and because of continuing negotiations with Lovell over Horse Close.

He told the Herald he had taken the advice of the council's monitoring officer at an early stage and had distanced himself from discussions with Lovell.

"I was clearly aware of the ongoing issues on the Granville Street site and have a good deal of sympathy with the residents on what is a very difficult site to access. This is one reason I decided that any issues related to the development should be handled by the director of services or the corporate head of business support.

“I also distanced myself from any decisions regarding Lovell and their proposals with regard to Horse Close, as I felt more comfortable placing myself at a distance to avoid any misconceptions," he said.

The around 500 residents of Granville Street and area have consistently called on the council to take action against Lovell and expressed shock that the council was talking with the company about Horse Close.

Calls by them for the council to end its relationship with Lovells was not supported following a closed 'extraordinary' meeting of the council.

Jane Houlton, residents' spokesman, said she could guarantee people would be 'incandescent' with anger and very upset about Mr Shevlin's decision.

"Why didn't he tell the council before the last extraordinary meeting, or indeed back in November when his negotiations, he says, began?" she said.

"If he has taken all the proper steps and there was no conflict of interest, there should have been no problem. This relationship could, and should have been disclosed at a much earlier date."

Mr Shevlin said the completion notice on his house had been delayed for several months and that he had waited until it was finalised before he had written to members in confidence on March 23.