As we continue to follow the money at Knutsford Town Council, The Guide Cheshire investigates whether a local business owner linked to the Council is acting as a proxy through targeted correspondence. A very interesting communication was received by the Guide Cheshire against helping Knutsford residents dealing with rising taxes get answers to questions about their money, transparency, and sustainability.
Grant Wild expanded the dispute between Cheshire Fashion Week Ltd and Knutsford Town Council beyond the parties through questionable correspondence. In a fear-mongering letter sent to The Guide Cheshire, Wild indicated that the Daily Mail would be contacted, sponsors would be contacted, and any action that might harm a law student’s prospects of a legal career would result. interesting.
The issue is fast becoming a Jackie Weaver show at the Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting, which is rather disappointing. Knutsford taxpayers should ask, how far are the Town Council and those associated with its week-long fashion campaign prepared to go to silence critics? was this correspondance intended to pressure a law student to halt FOI requests, freedom of speech, and threaten their legal career?
As part of its investigation, The Guide Cheshire is asking whether Grant Wild’s business has participated in events supported by Knutsford Town Council and what stake, if any, he has in the ongoing dispute. Was his email targeting a law student and their university an independent intervention, or an attempt to halt scrutiny of Knutsford Town Council’s rebranding of Flash Fashion and the wider questions surrounding taxpayers’ money, transparency and sustainability? The extent of that escalation warrants scrutiny.
Why was a university contacted over a trade mark dispute involving a law student’s company, and how does doing so answer legitimate questions about taxpayers’ money? Was the intention to pressure the director to back down or deter her from pursuing a future legal career? Why does the law-student status of a company director appear to bother those involved in a trade mark dispute with her company? Either way, Grant Wild’s correspondence neither answers the public-interest questions being asked on behalf of Knutsford taxpayers nor appears to have achieved its intended outcome.
The Guide Cheshire understands that universities and legal professional bodies do not operate as referees for local disputes, civil disagreements or smear campaigns, nor do they act as parental authorities over private local town squabbles. Instead, legal education teaches students to scrutinise the exercise of public power and hold public authorities accountable. Still, why was her future legal career brought up at all and why did Grant Wild think this would affect her future career even a little? Was it a personal exercise of power? Are the legal studies of the director of the SME relevant to the dispute between Knutsford Town Council and her company?
What are the legitimate connections between a student’s degree, future profession, and business relationships?
Clearly, these questions arise directly from the correspondence and require an explanation of motives as a matter of public interest. It raises a wider public-interest question. Is a legal dispute between incorporated entities being taken beyond the courts and made personal for the purpose of silencing scrutiny or damaging reputation?
How does Grant Wild’s correspondence serve Knutsford taxpayers, particularly amid concerns over rising taxes? Would a further FOI request establish whether Wild acted independently, or whether external pressure was being applied by proxy?
For Knutsford taxpayers, there is another important question.
Did Knutsford Town Council, working with Visit Cheshire (Marketing Cheshire), want to leverage the commercial weight that comes with the “Fashion Week” label in Cheshire? Did they hope to capitalise on the buzz generated by the region’s Cheshire Fashion Week to give local shops a taxpayer-funded promotional boost? And was this week-long event assessed for sustainability in line with Knutsford Town Council’s own commitments to sustainable practices?
The Guide Cheshire intends to seek information under the Freedom of Information Act concerning relevant communications between the Council and third parties. The investigation will seek to establish whether Grant Wild communicated with Knutsford Town Council, and whether any publicly funded advisers participated in relevant communications.
These are questions, not conclusions. The Guide Cheshire will follow the communications, follow the expenditure and publish what the documentary record shows.
