Muck&Brass started in 2006 in response to the activities of Somerton Town Council in Somerset, England. The then Town Council had embarked on a grand scheme to build a 'community hall' for the town and made it crystal clear in their public statements that the community would have little or no say in the delivery of the project. As a casual observer, I was surprised at this approach and took a rather critical view of the activities of the town council and its membership.
Between November 2006 and February 2011, I chronicled the activities of what I referred to as the Keenan/Canvin administration. Initially this focussed on the activities of the Council itself, led by Keenan&Canvin and, after their co-ordinated resignation in October of 2009, the various events which marked the investigation of that Council's activities.
In February of 2012, after an exhaustive investigation, the Audit Commission published a damning report which catalogued 'abuse of public funds', 'unlawful expenditure' and 'acting without authority'. No action was taken against any of the individuals involved. Thus the Audit Commission report forms the most detailed template showing any delinquent Council how it can abuse public funds and get away with it. It is a cautionary tale.
There remains an open invitation from M&B to those involved in the Keenan/Canvin administration to provide the evidence which they claim refutes the content of the Audit Commission Report. Thus far, nothing has been forthcoming. In particular, Canvin has been invited to back up the claims which were made under his name in the Western Gazette dated 19th April 2012 and, again, despite repeated efforts to contact Canvin, no explanations or contradictory evidence have been provided.
Niall Connolly
24th December 2012
