Sir – As information begins to flow in under the Freedom of Information Act, the whole sorry story of the sale of 9 High Street is slowly coming to light. Readers will remember that Craven District Council found a prospective purchaser several years ago (Accent) but they withdrew because of the then current financial climate.

What happened next becomes very worrying. According to an internal report (why is everything internal with this council?) the council’s legal advisers told the council that the only safe course of action in those circumstances was for the whole cumbersome process which was being used for the sale to be abandoned, but the council told its lawyers that this was not acceptable. In other words legal advice was being ignored because of the council’s own priorities.

In the same internal report, the council’s own officer responsible for independent advice had stated that with hindsight the council should not have adopted this cumbersome procedure in the first place, but should have proceeded on the basis of selling High Street, Granville Street and Horse Close in separate lots, thus resulting in higher prices for all of them.

The chance afforded by the withdrawal of Accent to start again with this more financially realistic approach was thrown away, however, and one of the reasons why it was thrown away would make grown men weep. Without the trace of a smile it was concluded that to start again on a proper footing would seriously affect the reputation of the council and make it more difficult to sell assets in the future.

As far as this writer is concerned, the more difficult this council finds the selling of assets, the better. This was not, of course, the only reason for ignoring legal advice, but the other one is equally as worrying. The council was advised that because of its “perilous” financial situation it was more or less forced into the sale to the present developer.

To safeguard the position of the man in the street, Parliament has provided that councils can only dispose of assets at the best consideration that can reasonably be obtained. Craven District Council has interpreted this as meaning that protecting its own reputation is paramount and that it is proper to dispose of its assets on the basis of a forced sale.

Anyone who has seen repossessed goods disposed of on a forced sale knows that this can only result in a massive loss.

To conclude. Despite the fact that it put 9 High Street and adjoining land on the market as a retail development site, the latest valuations obtained by the council to justify the sale are based on the existing use vale of a rundown office building with adjoining car parking.

John Weatherill, Flasby