Portland Town Council has accused Weymouth and Portland Borough Council of a “lack of co-operation” over the way in which it has decided to dispose of land on the island without asking for local views first.

In a letter to the borough council, Portland Town Council says it was not consulted about seven plots of land which are to be sold off. The town council asked for the decision to dispose of the pockets of land to be reviewed. 

It comes as Portland councillor Ray Nowak puts forward a notice of motion urging the borough to put the sale of plots of land in Weymouth and Portland on hold.

This is because Cllr Nowak claims due process, consultations and further considerations should take place before a final report is drawn up. He says this process should occur before any decision to dispose of the land by the borough council’s management committee takes place.

The borough council’s management committee voted to dispose of the land in April, though a number of Portland councillors on the committee argued that the assets should be transferred to the town council if the borough council is soon dissolved to become part of a unitary authority.

Portland Town Council says in its letter that the land could have been included in the Neighbourhood Plan considerations for the island. 

At Portland Town Council’s annual meeting, at which the council agreed to send the letter, Cllr Ray Novak said: “Most of these plots of land were with Portland Urban District Council 43 years ago. The borough has not had any need for these plots of land and now they have decided to sell off what they can.”

He added: “Surely the first test should have been to consult local councillors.”

The letter sent by the council says that, as part of supporting Portland’s Neighbourhood Plan, it wrote to local landowners asking to be advised of potential sites for development.

The letter adds: “The borough council was informed of this at the time and our Assistant Clerk went to South Walks House to liaise with your staff and gather relevant information about such sites. At no point were the seven sites in question mentioned to her.”

After the town council meeting, Cllr Jim Draper said: “We wanted to see how we might develop the plots and the borough didn’t respond to it.”

Cllr Nowak said afterwards that he was disappointed about the way the borough council has decided to “cash in” on the land without consulting the wider community. He added that if the council had gone through this process, the decision to dispose of the land would have been justified.