TWO complaints against Malvern Hills District Council over sports fields off Sling Lane were not upheld by the council’s standards committee yesterday.

Newton Sports Junior Football Club was granted a 25-year lease on the field in 2010, and in March 2012 got planning permission for facilities at the site.

Gavin O’Mahoney, of the Heart of Malvern Party, who opposed the development because of traffic congestion fears and loss of public land, and Catherine Hall, alleged officers and councillors had acted improperly.

They said Coun Val Myatt should not have chaired the meeting at which the application was approved, because she had been on the steering group that decided to rent the field.

They also said that council officer Mark Hammond, who was involved in the project, should not have distributed information about the funding deadline at the meeting.

“People feel hugely misled, marginalised and let down by the local councillors and council officers,” said Mr O’Mahoney.

Monitoring officer John Williams said the council’s assessment subcommittee had previously decided Coun Myatt was within her rights to be involved in the steering group.

It might have looked better if she had stepped down from chairing the meeting, but because she had no personal involvement in the application, she had no interest to declare.

And Ivor Pumfrey, the council’s head of community services, said: “Mr Hammond had worked very hard in sometimes difficult circumstances to deliver council policy.”

The standards committee decided correct procedures had been followed.