Seemed quite reasonable

04 March 2010

I WRITE in response to the letter headlined 'Given 14 days notice' which appeared on page eight of last week's Mercury. It appears Mr Wotton challenges the use of the word 'abandon', among other things. The facts are that the leaseholder walked away from the premises and the business after failing to carry out due maintenance of the building. By any standards, even in the insurance industry, that is definitely 'abandoning'.

Although the tenant's wife tried to carry on, the business eventually owed some £5,000 in rent, whilst the building had continued to deteriorate. Surveyors eventually decided the structure had actually become dangerous and, since the leaseholder was still refusing to carry out necessary repairs, his wife had to leave. As she had no lease at all with the council, certainly not the 'over 12 months' quoted by Mr Wotton, two weeks to vacate seemed quite reasonable. Eventually, when the council officers got the keys back and reoccupied the building, they found further damage had occurred and more than £200,000 worth of repairs were going to be needed to make the building useable again.

Those are the facts of the case and I have no option but to put the record straight in defence of our officers and the council.

COUNCILLOR ELFAN AP REES

Deputy Leader of North Somerset Council

Town Hall

Weston