The Welsh Development Agency is being sued by developer Landare Investments after being criticised by a House of Commons committee on the sale of land to Tesco in the early 1990s.
Landare said at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday the WDA, Rhondda Cynon Taff County Council, and a dozen former councillors and officials, conspired to block its plans for a new supermarket in Aberdare, instead selling the land to rival developers. The allegations are denied.
According to Landare, the Council blocked the sale of land for the construction of an access road for its new store. Meanwhile, it sold an alternative site to Tesco – a deal later criticised by a Commons Public Accounts committee for ‘issues of probity’.
Asda eventually developed the site that had been targeted by Landare.
A WDA investigation into the incident in 1994 found no evidence of improper behaviour.
EGi News 07/10/99
