THERE has been a dramatic call this week for the resignation of East Hampshire District Council leader Andrew Pattie after he was accused of abusing his power and misleading his cabinet. Experienced Liberal Democrat campaigner Peter Rodgers said Mr Pattie should step down as a "matter of honour" over a "massive" £150,000 Petersfield Rugby Club grant. The call came after claims Mr Pattie had given prior assurances to the club that it would receive the grant. According to Mr Rodgers, this was done with a "lack of any democratic foundation" for the decision. But the claim has been hotly denied by Mr Pattie, who says he has acted "entirely correctly" in his handling of the grant. In a strongly worded letter this week, Mr Rodgers asked: lWhy the club had appealed for the grant directly to Mr Pattie without consulting other council organisations. lWhat the club would have done had it received a smaller grant. lWhy, when the club found that there was a huge shortfall of £150,000 on a proposed £400,000 project, it did not reduce its proposals to match the funding it could get. Mr Rodgers added: "The only answer to these questions that makes any sense is that Mr Pattie must have given the club prior assurances that they would get the money. "Hence my point about the lack of any democratic foundation for the decision. "Mrs Gray, the only other member consulted, didn't even know what was included in the contract so I wonder whether she was properly consulted at all. "If my reading of these events is correct, then Mr Pattie has abused his position as leader of the council and should resign as a matter of honour." The letter added that at a meeting of the cabinet in November, Mr Pattie had turned the issue into a political matter. "I asked him a question about the massive grant of £150,000 to Petersfield Rugby Club but Mr Pattie chose to turn it into a political issue. He is quite wrong," said Mr Rodgers. "I am very concerned when the council hands out public money to a private sports club in such a cavalier way - and I know that several of Mr Pattie's own Tory group are equally concerned at the decision. "To try and turn it into a political spat is to misread the situation completely. "Mr Pattie misled the cabinet by claiming that EHDC had an objective of establishing a centre for sporting excellence in Petersfield. "When I challenged him to produce documentary evidence of this at the council meeting, he was unable to do so and resorted to a bad-tempered jibe. "The club provides a valuable opportunity for young people to enjoy healthy physical exercise and, as such, benefits the community. "But to describe it as "the heartbeat of the town", as Mr Pattie put it, is an exaggeration and also an insult to the many other organisations which contribute much to the life and character of Petersfield." Mr Pattie told The Herald he denied any wrongdoing and said the Liberal Democrats "did not care" about sports provision in the area. He said: "He (Mr Rodgers) is utterly wrong if he thinks that raising funds for sports facilities is outside our policy. He simply needs to look at our council strategy which refers to active lifestyles. "We are a responsive and proactive organisation and we have gone through all the correct channels. "It has gone to the cabinet and it will go to the budget next year. We have done the right thing. "This just proves that the Lib Dems do not care about providing sport in the area." l Letters, page 11.