IN reply to the letter from Atisreal (BNP Paribas) denying it had a conflict of interest between Ryedale and Sainsbury’s in regard to the sale of Wentworth Street car park, I refer to a press release published on March 29, 2006.

This confirmed an 18-month extension of Atisreal’s contract with Sainsbury’s to provide “estate management and property services for Sainsbury’s 700-strong national property portfolio”, and boasting inter alia of having advised on Sainsbury’s £2billion securitisation of 127 of its supermarkets.

Ryedale’s contract with WSP and Atisreal is dated March 20, 2007.

It is correct that when Atisreal was appointed, Wentworth Street car park was one of the sites it were asked to look at, but this was in the context of the “Malton Town Centre Renaissance and Enhancement Study 2006”, which had identified the Livestock Market (not Wentworth Street car park) as “the primary opportunity to address deficiencies in the Malton retail offer”, and “the site which holds the key to the future well-being of the town centre”.

From the information available to me, I can find no suggestion of Wentworth Street car park having been considered as a site for a new supermarket before Atisreal was instructed.

The size of the supermarket recommended by WSP and Atisreal exceeds that recommended by another consultant (RTP) in a report dated December 2009.

In February 2008, I was told by local people that Sainsbury’s men had been seen surveying Wentworth Street car park. WSP and Atisreal delivered their report recommending a supermarket there in March, 2008.

What constitutes a conflict of interest depends on circumstances. I leave readers to make their own judgement on whether or not there may have been a conflict of interest.

Coun Paul Andrews, Malton