I was one of four people who resigned from the Suffolk Park Progress Association (SPPA) committee on 18 March, following two previous resignations.
At the time, we four, then a majority, wrote a respectful resignation letter, explaining key reasons, and requesting the letter’s release.
The president of the SPPA, Kelly Minahan, not only repeatedly declined those requests, but also sent warnings in emails, which in our view amounted to threats of potential litigation, if we publicly discussed reasons for our resignation.
Since then, in our view, the president has repeatedly misrepresented the reasons for our resignations, leaving us no alternative than to speak out. We resigned chiefly because we were concerned that the speed of decision-making was not accompanied by a commensurate amount of due diligence, and that our repeated expression of this concern was ultimately dismissed. One chief concern was that the haste was not allowing adequate time to discuss and implement management strategies for potential conflicts of interest of the SPPA president.
Since our resignation, following questioning from The Echo, Mr Minahan has revealed a conflict of interest relating to the large proposed Denwol development in Clifford Street, previously rejected by the Land & Environment Court, amidst great community concern.
In a SPPA newsletter on 2 April, making no mention of any conflict of interest, the president welcomed the Denwol development, saying it offered an opportunity ‘to enhance and beautify our village,’ and appeared ‘sensitive to both community sentiment and environmental concerns.’
Concerned about the need for a genuinely independent community voice, other former committee members organised a public meeting to discuss the Denwol development, independent of developers and the SPPA (now Suffolk Park Community Association), and that meeting was extremely well attended.
I again respectfully ask the president to release our letter, and ask all readers to ponder what message this situation is sending to developers across the country, with their eyes on opportunities in Suffolk Park.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
