Crisis-hit Kington Town Council is in trouble again after residents raised concern about the suspension of three members, and the Mayor offered to lead by example and step down.
At a tense meeting on Monday, resident Chris Marsden asked “What is wrong with Kington Town Council?” following the suspension of councillors Esther Rolls, Janet Rolls and Bob Widdowson from committee meetings before Christmas for allegedly bullying the clerk.
The clerk, Gwilym Rippon, a former police officer, took office last August.
Mr Marsden asked why there were more complaints about Kington than anywhere else in the Midlands. He said the three sus- pensions had created immense adverse publicity, and the council was already in the press too often.
“The councillors have not even been advised what the bullying is alleged to have been about,” he said. “They have not had any details of the charges or the ability to defend the charges. It is against natural justice. The sanctions imposed were not appropriate, nor proportionate.
“Further complaints are bound to be made, further letters to the press, probably the national press, further expensive auditor involvement seems inevitable. We simply do not want it. When will you start listening to the people of Kington?”
He asked numerous questions about the councillors’ suspensions, which he claimed the clerk would not answer, including when the alleged bullying took place; was it a one-off or a series of events; why did the clerk say a perfectly reasonable and concise email from a councillor was harassment when it plainly was not; was the alleged bullying witnessed; and if any grievance had been made against the clerk, when was it to be heard?
He asked why the councillors concerned could not be told what the grievance was before it went to the Standards Board, and if the clerk had access to their grievance.
Mr Marsden revealed that when he himself had made a complaint about the clerk on Monday, he was told to submit it to the clerk, which he said thought was wrong.
He claimed that when he asked what legislation the councillors had been suspended under, he was sent an ‘abridged version’ by the clerk which omitted that members had a right to a hearing and report, and for that report to be put to both sides before disciplinary action.
Mr Marsden was offered a face-to-face meeting with the clerk to discuss the issues by the Mayor Councillor Allan Lloyd. But Christine Forrester, wife of Councillor Widdowson, joined Mr Marsden in his condemnation and said she did not think a face-to-face meeting with one member of the public was enough. She said a number of people were concerned about the issues.