Welcome to Victoria Pier, Colwyn Bay

Public Inquiry into Council Corruption called for...

If you are disgusted by the level of corruption and law-breaking at Conwy County Borough Council that have led to them (so far) getting away with bankrupting the pier owner based on knowingly fraudulent claims made to a Court of Law, please sign the petition to the Prime Minister to conduct a full Public Inquiry into CCBC's handling of this matter.

please click here to sign the petition

Petition now in the top 8% !

Councillors supporting the call for a Public Inquiry:

Cllr David Maratos
Cllr John Oddy
website

The above councillors are to be highly commended for taking a brave stance against CCBC in the quest for the truth to be revealed. Hopefully other councillors will break rank too. Let you local councillor know your feelings about how CCBC are wasting YOUR money.

please click here to sign the petition

 
January 2010

Public Meeting: 500 people turned up! - unfortunately about half of those could not physically fit in the Town Hall. Of course, if the pier were open, 500 people easily would have been accomodated in the Pavilion Ballroom!

Next week I will start updating the website again - there is a huge amount of information to go on, about the quest for truth in the pier scandal, as well as naming and shaming individuals involved with full evidence - so I need to think about how best to arrange it all!

Watch latest ITV news (21st Jan) item here

Watch latest BBC news (22nd Jan) item here

 

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30th Sept 2009 : Copy of Freedom of Information Request to the Council regarding their abuse of their own Constitution. 

(this letter was also sent via www.whatdotheyknow.com but the Corrupt Council appear to have managed to censor that supposedly independent, impartial website again... they previously censored this request ... you can draw your own conclusions from these cowardly actions)

29th September 2009

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Dear Mr Smith,

Conwy County Borough Council's OWN CONSTITUTION STATES:

"How decisions are made: The Executive is the part of the Council which is responsible for taking most of the major decisions. The Executive is made up of 10 members, one of whom is the Leader appointed by the Council and who chairs the Executive. The business to be considered by the Executive, Scrutiny Committees and the Council as a whole is published in the forward work programme. Meetings of the Executive, Scrutiny Committees, the Council and other committees are open for the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed, as defined by the law. The Executive has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole for decision."

This is published on the Council's website here:  http://www.conwy.gov.uk/section.asp?cat=1877&Language=1

In your letter to me of 15th September 2009, published here:  http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/17335/response/44103/attach/2/850%2009%20110909.pdf
  , you confirmed that the Council was acting outside of any policy in the various actions it decided to take against me. The Councils Constitution states clearly that if it wishes to make a decision outside of any "policy framework", it must be "referred to the Council as a whole for decision".

With this in mind, please provide me with a copy of the minutes of the full Council whereby the following matters were discussed, and it was decided, presumably by majority vote? to carry out the following actions (hereinafter referred to as "the actions"):

that the Council should:

a) disregard the provisions of the Data Protection Act, which is what led me to launch and win a County Court case against the Council (court case no. 8CC00525)

b) attempt to defend the above case in Court that the Council had no reasonable chance of defending successfully, and hence wasting taxpayers money thereon

c) lie to officers of the Court (the Court Bailiff in this particular case)

d) disregard an Order of the Court, causing a Court hearing to be scheduled, which again the Council had no reasonable chance of defending successfully, and which again incurred further considerable costs to the local taxpayer.

NB: the above items a-d "the actions" were made public in YOUR OWN letter of 15th Sept 2009 as above, which YOU published on www.whatdotheyknow.com  , therefore please do not again attempt to pressurise that website to edit the text of my FOI request online.

I have searched the published minutes of the Council on the Council's website, but cannot find the minutes of the particular meeting where the Council as a whole voted to carry out the actions. This would indicate:

(i) that no such meeting ever took place, which would in turn mean the Council has disregarded its own Constitution, which is of course an abuse of its powers and the Law.

or

(ii) the minutes of the meeting referred to above have simply not yet been published?

Clearly either (i) or (ii) must be the case. Since (i) is unconstitutional and unlawful, and the resulting actions illegal, I am naturally assuming (ii) is the case.

Therefore, to assist you in locating the minutes of the meeting in order to fulfill my request, I advise that your Mr Peter Brown (in-house solicitor), Mr Irfon Owen and Mr Kelvin Jones are the principals involved in actually carrying out the actions, so logically they must either have personally been at the meeting where "the Council as a whole" decided to carry out the actions, or they were in receipt of some kind of written directive or instruction produced as a result of decisions made in the meeting which told them to carry out the actions. Such written directive / instruction will obviously make full reference to the time and date of the meeting, allowing the minutes of same to be easily located and retrieved for publication - unless of course they are already published elsewhere, in which case please advise where I can view them.

Oh, and asking for a copy of minutes of a full Council meeting is NOT "vexatious or obsessive" - they are supposed to be publicly available. (just to pre-empt your most likely response given how you have recently decided to handle FOI requests from myself AND others submitted via www.whatdotheyknow.com ).

Steve Hunt

The Council have, by Law, until the 27th October to answer the above request for information, I wonder if they will?... watch this space...

29th Sept 2009 : Council REFUSE to reveal which of them decided to break the Law

Today, David Smith of the corrupt Conwy County Borough Council has yet again broken the Law, by refusing to disclose information under the Freedom of Information Act. This time, he refuses point blank to reveal who exactly at CCBC decided to tell lies to the Court, who decided to willfully break the law, and who decided to waste taxpayers money trying to fight legal action they could not possibly win, after he admitted earlier in the month that the Council had acted completely outside of any official policy. (see the entry below)

The following text is taken from the Councils Constitution (notice the last part highlighted in white!):

"How decisions are made The Executive is the part of the Council which is responsible for taking most of the major decisions. The Executive is made up of 10 members, one of whom is the Leader appointed by the Council and who chairs the Executive. The business to be considered by the Executive, Scrutiny Committees and the Council as a whole is published in the forward work programme. Meetings of the Executive, Scrutiny Committees, the Council and other committees are open for the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed, as defined by the law. The Executive has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole for decision."

So! - I've asked for a copy of the minutes of the meeting where "the Council as a whole" decided to carry out unlawful actions against me - that should provide very interesting reading!... see how the quest for the truth on this point is going here 

You can view the Councils constitution here  View the full thread of the attempts to get to the truth here on the brilliant WhatDoTheyKnow? website - you can also subscribe to all Information Requests made to CCBC here and make your own requests for information if you want to uncover some more of their dirty little secrets about how they are wasting YOUR council tax.

15th Sept 2009 : Council LOSE in Court AGAIN as LIES backfire - costing local taxpayers MORE money!

Today the Corrupt Conwy County Borough Council lost in Court again, after lies to Court Officers seriously backfired on them this time. Earlier in the year, I won a landmark case against CCBC, forcing them to disclose all correspondence between themselves and their external Lawyers. The Court also awarded my costs in the case.
The Council failed to comply with the Court Order by not paying my costs (£138.83) and so I obtained a Warrant of Execution from the Court which added £55.00 onto the costs order, and the Court sent the Bailiffs in to the Council Offices to collect the full amount. The Council then decided to LIE to the Court Bailiff by claiming they had paid the costs, when they knew full well they had not. Upon learning of the lies, the Warrant was re-issued by the Court, and the Council decided to pay £138.83 into the Court (and thereby admitting they had originally lied about having already paid me!) but they refused to pay the £55.00 Bailiffs costs. Subsequently, the Court ruled that the Council MUST pay the £55.00 costs, but again the Council refused to pay up, insisting yet another Court Hearing take place at more cost to the taxpayer.
Today at the Court Hearing, the Council didn't even bother to turn up! (remember it was them who wasted more time and money by requesting a further Hearing!) - and upon reading the submissions from the Council, and reviewing the evidence before him, the Judge ruled that the Council MUST PAY me the £55.00 by 4.00pm on 29th Sept.
So, that's nearly £200 of taxpayers money wasted in costs, PLUS don't forget the Council has spent hundreds of pounds of taxpayers money on internal and external legal work, plus their own court costs, etc., all on a case they could never win in the first place. Don't forget, if the Council hadn't willfully broken the Law, I wouldn't have won the original case against them!
IS THIS AN APPROPRIATE USE OF YOUR COUNCIL TAX?... If you think your Council Tax could be better spent, write to David Jones MP (Local MP for the Pier and Shadow Minister for Wales - contact details on his website), who is taking a deep interest in the whole fiasco. 

15th Sept 2009 : Council ADMIT they did not follow any official policy at all

Today, David Smith of the Corrupt Conwy County Borough Council has admitted in writing that CCBC carried out atrocious actions against me without any Official Policy to do so... He admits the Council have no Policy that says they should:
a) ignore the Data Protection Act
b) waste public money fighting a Court Case they cannot possibly win
c) lie to Court Officers
d) refuse to comply with Court Orders
SO... who decided to take the above actions? - that's the next thing to be discovered...
You can view CCBC's letter for yourself here (opens as a pdf file)
View the full thread here on the brilliant WhatDoTheyKnow? website - you can also subscribe to all Information Requests made to CCBC here and make your own requests for information if you want to know some more of their dirty little secrets.

7th July 2009 : 1 Year on... LIES LIES and more LIES

It is a year today that the CORRUPT Conwy County Borough Council gave knowingly UNTRUE statements to a Judge at Caernarfon County Court, in a case where I was UNLAWFULLY DENIED A FAIR TRIAL, subsequently made bankrupt and the pier closed down.
Over the past year I have gathered full documentary evidence of several CRIMINAL offences, as well as many CIVIL Law offences too. One civil case has been taken to Court and won (see below) - which resulted in further evidence of the Criminal activities of certain Council officers being revealed.
Full details of the Crimes have been given to the Police, and supposedly investigated by CID / CPS.  However, there are very serious anomalies between what CID and CPS tell me - their stories simply do not match up, my file mysteriously disappeared for 3 weeks, both parties absolutely refuse to meet me in the same place at the same time in order for me to establish which is telling the truth, Police Chief Richard Brunstrom has made untrue statements about my case which he absolutely refuses to substantiate, and so it goes on...

What we can say is this:

It is now 100% proven that the Council knowingly LIED to the Court at the beginning and all through the legal process. That is PERJURY.

It is now 100% proven that the Council LIED to the County Court, Magistrates Court, Bailiffs, Official Receiver and Insolvency Practitioner about how much money I owed them - The Council KNEW that I did not, and never have, owed them the money they claimed, even before they started the Bankruptcy process. That is PERJURY.

It is now 100% proven that the Council actually OWE ME money which they deliberately tried to conceal by altering their computer records. That is FRAUD.

It is now 100% proven that the Council instructed their external Lawyers to make 2 written statements to the Court which both parties knew knew were UNTRUE. That is PERJURY and Conspiring to PERVERT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE.

The Council LIED to the Information Commissioners Office about requests for information I made to them in January 2007. This information, if provided, would have put an end to the business rates dispute as it shows the Council KNEW I did not owe the sums they claimed. The Council UNLAWFULLY denied me access to that information until AFTER the Bankruptcy trial, thus conspiring to ensure I received an UNFAIR TRIAL (against Article 6 of the European Human Right Act), since I had no means of defending their KNOWINGLY FRAUDULENT CLAIMS against me in Court.  The Council Officer concerned admits to the lies, but flatly refuses to state if he lied off his own back, or was instructed to lie by others... I understand he has now left the Council.

The Council have had several secret meeting about me, which they refuse to release any details of. Certain Council Officers (including the one who LIED to the Information Commissioners Office) were "required to attend" these secret meetings, and they were told to mark their time down as being "out of office" - WHY? - if it is an official Council meeting to discuss official Council business why are there no minutes, no correspondence and most importantly why were the officers told to cover their tracks?

The local media have been 'Gagged' by the Council, and told not to print anything about the Pier story which paints the Council in a bad light.

The Council UNLAWFULLY REFUSE to reveal how much taxpayer's money they have wasted in fighting me - but it is known to be in the 10s of 1000s of pounds already.

It has been revealed that the Welsh Assembly Government have literally Millions of Pounds waiting to be invested into the regeneration of the Pier, even with it in private ownership, from a special regeneration fund. The Council knew about this, but tried to keep it a secret from me at the same time as trying to force the pier to be put up for auction... I think you can work out for yourselves what is going on there...

All of the above is proven by the Council's OWN documents, and all will be published online shortly so you can see for yourselves.  Since the Police are so "reluctant", shall we say, to do anything then I think we'll have a trial by media. Open questions will be put to the Police too, so they can justify their actions at refusing to investigate reports of Criminal Activity which are 100% backed up by unquestionable evidence.

WHETHER IT BE IN THE COURTS OR IN PUBLIC,
THE COUNCIL FILTH WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.

23rd April : SECRET COUNCIL MEETING GATE-CRASHED

Today the Council held a secret meeting to discuss the future of the pier. I was specifically and deliberately NOT invited to attend. However, I decided to gate-crash the meeting and give them all a nice surprise. The look on the faces of the Council officers present was absolutely priceless as they squirmed in their seats not knowing where to look or what to say!... Why would a local authority meet in private to discuss a private individuals property, specifically excluding the owner of that property, unless they were up to no good? It was an interesting meeting, but obviously the true intent of that meeting is unknown...

17th April : How much of YOUR hard-earned money is CCBC wasting fighting the Pier?

I was chatting on the Prom yesterday, as I often do, to someone who wondered how much the legal battle was costing the local people, who are facing hard enough times and increasing Council Tax Bills at it is, whilst the Council award themselves ever more pay-rises... So I thought I'd find out - however, the Council really don't like people asking embarrassing questions of them! - see here:
www.whatdothdeyknow.com
This is a great site if you want to find out anything about the Council and how they spend YOUR money.

WARRANT of EXECUTION issued against Conwy County Council

Due to the failure of CCBC to comply with the Court Order of 7th April, a Warrant of Execution has now been issued, wasting another £55.00 of local taxpayer's money, which has been added to the costs.  The Warrant means the Court Bailiffs will now collect the money due, and if the Council still won't pay, they have the power to remove and sell goods from CCBC Headquarters... So they'll get a taste of their own medicine...

7th April : Courts order Council to disclose private documents to Pier Owner

Following on from the Feb 13th Court win, the Court further ordered Conwy Conwy County Council - CCBC - to disclose all the normally private correspondence between CCBC and their Solicitors, AND to pay costs in the case of £138.83.

Friday 13th February : a day the Council won't forget in a hurry!

In a landmark ruling, which marks the turning point of a bitter legal row, Conwy County Council were ordered to disclose documents to the Court which are normally considered 'Legal Privilege'. To read the story on the BBC website click here 

Oh, and the funniest thing... would you believe it, Conwy County Borough Council have an "Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy Policy Statement" ... Do you think CCBC understand the concept of irony?  If you want a good laugh, you can read it here

Welsh Assembly could fund pier regeneration




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What's happening with Victoria Pier?

The pier is currently closed whilst the malicious bankruptcy brought about by Conwy County Borough Council is being dealt with by our lawyers.  The Council is under investigation by various official bodies for serious offences committed against the pier's owner.  The first Court case against the Council was won on Friday 13th Feb... Once the various bodies have finished their investigations, all the documents will be released to the public so you can see for yourself exactly what has been going on the past 2 years.
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BBC Wales made a documentary about a year in the life of the pier, and the efforts to restore it and improve the facilities.  More details, plus an active message board about the pier is on the BBC website click here
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