IN his letter to the editor (August 12), Mr Hoodless questions the price the council is obtaining for the Bath Road car park site and the rent it is paying for a lease-back of the new underground car park.

Whilst the details of this transaction obviously remain confidential and commercially sensitive, I can say that the figures quoted in the Echo do not reflect the full picture and that they also ignore the revenue stream to the council of the operation of the car park over the same period.

As a retired chartered surveyor, I am sure that Mr Hoodless will be aware of the council’s obligation under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 to obtain best consideration on the disposal of land.

The council sought independent advice from external valuation consultants King Sturge (now Jones Lang LaSalle) before the council’s cabinet approved the revised terms at its meeting on February 1, 2011. This was covered in the confidential part of the cabinet report which confirmed that the revised terms of this transaction fully discharged its statutory obligations.

GARY PLATT, Head of property, Bournemouth Council