Mistakes made in the fine print of the sale of land next to Talacre park in Kentish Town

• THANK you to Tom Foot for his June 3 report on Camden’s admittance of incompetence in drawing up the original agreement on the Prince’s Park development which means that the people of Camden have missed out – so far – on £3.8million, (Blunder robs Town Hall of millions, June 3).

I have no doubt that council leader Georgia Gould, Councillor Richard Olszewski, and the Camden Labour Party hope that the statement – by a council officer not an elected member – means the end of the affair.

It doesn’t. Who was responsible for the error? What officers in the legal department from the time when the “faulty” agreement was made are still working for Camden? Can we be told exactly what went wrong with the wording?

Why hasn’t an “expert” been appointed to settle the amount owed by the developers, and then legal steps taken to recover the debt?

Why does it appear impossible for Camden to make a clear public statement on other overage payments which may also not have been collected due to faulty legal paperwork?

Similarly why can’t Camden now tell its constituents how much it currently collects from developers on an annual basis, just like other councils such as Westminster and Southwark?

And what every resident of the borough wants to know is: has every possible effort been made to collect what is owed?

If it has, show us all the paperwork. If it hasn’t, make the effort now to settle the debt, and demonstrate that Camden is not just walking away from a problem.

Without complete clarity about this shabby affair, a black cloud will continue to hang over Prince’s Park itself, the current owners and leaseholders, as well as Camden Council.

BRIAN LAKE
Great Russell Street, WC1