THE inquiry into the dispute between St Ann’s Well café tenant John Redman and the Malvern Hills Conservators was set to be discussed last night.

The special committee was due to meet in the Elgar Room at the Council House in Avenue Road at 6pm.

The dispute began in September 2009 when Mr Redman was informed that his lease on the café would not be renewed by the conservators when it expired in March 2010.

A new lease was finally agreed between the two parties in May 2011 following a series of protests, petitions, mediation sessions and negotiations.

At its first meeting on Friday, December 2, Brian Pilcher stepped down as chairman of the committee and Carl Attwood was appointed unanimously.

The other members are Luna Deller and Jill Campbell, with Tim Musgrove and Mr Pilcher taking ex-officio roles and Kevin Douglas acting as an independent adviser.

The committee was due to look at legal advice, the budget, the shape of the process and the next steps to take in that process.

It was set to be followed by a meeting of the board at 7pm, where a director’s successor working party will be formed with Ian Rowat stepping down from the role in April.

Among other business, the board was set to move to appoint a representative on the Malvern Hills Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty Joint Advisory Committee, and hear a report from the Malvern Spa Association.

For a report on last night’s meeting, see malverngazette.co.uk.