Has Clarence Valley Council brought a pup?

Two conflicting sides to the same story reported by newspapers from two different stables.

Clarence Valley Council’s new general manager Scott Greensill (left) defends himself in The Daily Examiner on 15^th December 2011:

“Scott Greensill said he had nothing to fear from a Supreme Court judgment handed down on Friday in a case involving his former employer, Singleton Council.

Mr Greensill said although the judgement went against the council there were no adverse findings against him.

"At the end of the day it is something that I've moved on from," he said.

"At all times I acted in good faith and on legal advice. I'm confident I handled the matter professionally."

Mr Greensill said the Singleton Council had a lot of "issues" and he was happy to have left them behind.”

Other side of the coin over at The Singleton Argus on 13th December 2011:

“Judge Schmidt’s findings were also critical of Mr Greensill, pointing out he “certainly acted inconsistently” with the council’s code of conduct by delegating “all responsibilities” in the Nichols matter to assets manager Gary Thomson yet continuing to still work on the case.
After his delegation, Mr Greensill twice sought and received advice from Mr McKelvey and wrote a memo for Mr Thomson which brought Mr Smith’s report on Cr Nichols to the full council.
While Mr Greensill, as general manager, may give advice or make recommendations to the council he did not have authority to direct councillors in the performance of their duties, Judge Schmidt accepted.
Mr Greensill could not forbid councillors from speaking with the Jones’, his advice could be rejected and did not bind councillors.”

As the full judgement is published in The Singleton Argus as Nichols v Singleton Council [2011] NSWSC 1517 Hearing Date(s): 22 August 2011, 23 August 2011, 24 August 2011 Decision Date: 9 December 2011 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Administrative Law Before: Schmidt J you can make up your own minds about Mr. Greensill’s role in the Singleton saga.

Pic from The Daily Examiner