THE vote to demolish a historic Newton Abbot site could be challenged as unlawful, it has been suggested.

Councillors may have voted majority in favour of demolishing several buildings on Bradley Lane, but a source well versed in affairs of Local Government has told the Mid-Devon Advertiser that the decision, if challenged, might not stand up in court.

The source says the meeting was poorly managed and as such the decision on Bradley Mill could be challenged on grounds of maladministration.

The issue, as explained to the Mid-Devon Advertiser, is one of procedure.

With regards to Bradley Mill, council Chairman, Cllr Rosie Dawson, announced that there were two motions.

According to the source, at a meeting there should only ever be one at a time, any other proposition becomes an amendment.

The Chairman then decided to take the second motion, ‘motion two’, first, which was Cllr Palethorpe’s motion - in effect an amendment to the proposal by Cllr McGregor to defer the item to an Extraordinary General Meeting, which was what the Chairman termed the meeting.

This was duly voted upon by recorded vote and was passed.

This ‘motion two’ by Cllr Palethorpe, actually an amendment, then became the substantive motion which has to voted upon again, the source says.

But it was not voted on again and, therefore, the decision could be challenged as unlawful.