Editorial comment, Echo, 5 December 2007 see Councillors meeting with developers probed

AN informal meeting between council leader and deputy leader, and a property developer.
A planned multimillion pound block of flats in Wickford in the offing. 
Discussions that seem to have proceeded on the assumption planning permission was simply a matter of rubber-stamping. No minutes or professional officer of the council present.

Whatever else, councillors Buckley and Ball weren't being too smart. By leaving an impression of murky dealings, they have handed a gift to their political opponents - particularly those in the Wickford Action Group campaigning against overdevelopment. In fact, the meeting seems to have been innocent enough.

It's just it should never have been allowed to happen in the way it did. The council protocol is clear: No meetings of this nature should take place without an officer of the council present. The aim of the guidelines is to ensure transparency and eliminate any hint of underhandedness. By disregarding those principles, the two leading Basildon councillors achieved those things the guidelines seek to prevent. But a party slanging match or calls for heads to roll will do no one any good. The councillors are guilty of an error of judgement, not a crime.

Perhaps they got carried away. Large town centre redevelopments are exciting things. But they are not a licence to toss aside rules to protect councillors, as well as the people they represent.