My view – Facts and context

In Wealdens Council Strategy the Alliance promises to be “Open, Honest and Transparent”.

After the events of last week and my resignation from the Liberal Democrats and the Alliance for Wealden I have been disappointed at the response from my previous colleagues. What is clear to me however is that many of them have not been fully aware of the facts that led to my resignation.

It is my intention to add some clarity to the situation for both the public and elected Members of Wealden District Council.

I stood for election to the District Council because I believed (as I continue to do) that I have something to offer the people of Wealden. We deserve a well run and efficient Council and it is fundamental that people can trust that elected Members are able to represent their Wards to the best of their ability. This occasionally involves taking a firm stance on an issue of importance. More on that later.

Planning Committee North

Planning Committee North (PCN) is one of the two Planning Committees in Wealden. Since the Election in 2023 I had been Vice Chair of the Committee and had substituted several times as both a Vice Chair and Member on Planning Committee South. I had always sought to ensure that the job was well done with my decisions being based on my assessments of the material matters around each application. It has become an increasing concern to me that the quality of Chairing of these committees presents a potential risk to the Council. Poor chairing has the potential to leave the Council open to challenges and financial risk.

Following the Annual Full Council Meeting on May 15^th the Council did not appoint the various Committees as required by Wealden’s Constitution in Part 4(1)(1.1)(2). Membership of PCN was outlined in the Members Bulletin (number 87) on May 17^th 2024. My name was on the list for that Committee. The Members bulletin also made clear that

“The Chair and Deputy Chair for the Meeting on 23^rd May will be agreed at the start of the meeting before any items are considered”

Having been informed that I would need to attend the meeting I reviewed the Agenda (which ran to 234 pages), undertook the site visits and was ready to do as I had done many times before and make an objective decision in the meeting.

On the Tuesday prior to the PCN meeting, a Full Committee briefing was held to clarify any points of fact or areas of a technical nature. This is a practice outlined on page 269 of the Constitution under the heading “Full Committee Briefing Meetings”. During this meeting, the Democratic Services Officer present stated that we would need to elect a Chair and Deputy Chair for the meeting on the 23^rd. Councillor Martyn Everitt stated that he would be happy to Chair the meeting if people wanted him to do so. He received no acknowledgement or expression of support for this statement.

After formal matters had been dealt with, Councillor Kevin Benton (Ind) proposed that I should Chair the meeting on the 23^rd May. This was shortly seconded by Councillor Chris Primett (Con). I said and did nothing at this point. The meeting was subsequently concluded.

A Green Councillor had previously proposed a follow on meeting after the technical briefing which would only take place among Alliance Planning committee members. I expressed concerns to Cllrs Partridge and Millward that scheduling such meetings on a regular basis would leave the Council exposed to a planning appeal risk as Planning is not a party political process. I received no response from either of them although Cllrs Millward and Collins expressed enthusiastic support for the suggestion originally provided by their colleague. Cllr Patridge did not respond.

On Wednesday morning I was sent an email by Cllr Partridge which asked me to agree to a number of demands, namely to:

• to withdraw immediately from or not accept nomination for chair of PCN and support ME as Chair
• not to comment adversely in any type of media, in Council or committee about the Alliance, any members of the Alliance, the LDs or the Greens
• to vote with the Alliance on all “confidence” issues
• not to comment adversely about Alliance policy or attack Alliance policy in Council committees – this does not mean you cannot question policy
• to support Alliance policy in Council committees
• not to co-operate with non-Alliance members of Council in a way which undermines the Alliance
• to give meaningful advance warning of action you plan to take in Council or committee if this is not in line with Alliance policy.

The email went on to say that

“It has been made clear to me that, if you were to stand against ME (Martyn Everitt) for Chair of PCN, Green members’ support for the Alliance won’t hold.  A straight LD to Green contest would be too much for them.” I understand this ultimatum to have been delivered by the Leader of Wealden District Council, Rachel Millward (Green).

I was given until midday on Wednesday to agree to the above. This would seem to make a mockery of what appeared to be a transparent democratic process. I responded as follows:

“Dear James,

Thank you for your email. To be clear, I contribute a disproportionate amount time, energy and expertise to supporting the Alliance. With that comes a critical eye for good governance and fiscal responsibility. It’s thereforefore (sic) disappointing that you sent this to me as I consider the terms to be onerous, undemocratic, denying me agency as an elected member, and not conducive to the good running of Wealden District Council in the interests of local residents and taxpayers.

Regards,

Andrew”

A response was received later in the day which included the line:

“In the circumstances, I think that I have to take steps to create more time and avoiding harm to the Alliance by replacing you on PCN for the time being.” 

So, cross party support for an Alliance member to Chair an important committee was apparently enough to threaten the stability of the Alliance. That resonated with me following Cllr Neil Cleaver’s resignation a week earlier where he cites disproportionate Green influence in the running of the Alliance and runs counter to a politically inclusive Council.

That evening (Wed), we are informed via another Councillors bulletin that I was to be replaced by Cllr Kelvin Williams on PCN “on a permanent basis”. Additionally, Cllr Paul Coleshill (Lib Dem) replaced Cllr Daniel Manvell (Lab) on the Committee. This action is now the subject of enquiries made by myself and another experienced Councillor.

The effect of these two actions was to remove me, a Councillor with an active nomination for Chair of the Committee and stack the Committee with Alliance members to vote in the Leadership’s preferred candidate. Councillor Everitt was proposed and seconded in the meeting by Cllrs Collins (Green) and Williams (Lib Dem). Instead of being appointed for that meeting only he was installed as Chairman for a year contrary to the previous Councillors Bulletin and practice at the PCS meeting a week prior and O&S on the Monday.

The Alliance made 3 promises in its new Council strategy to be open, honest and transparent. The events of the past weeks has persuaded me these are empty words.

As I said at the beginning, I stood as Councillor to represent residents’ interests. I provided critical challenge as a member of the Audit Finance and Governance Committee and am on record publicly voting against a policy just once. That policy related to what I thought was a unscrutinized penal tax imposition on Wealden second property owners and I had argued for a greater level of scrutiny. Since my resignation from the Liberal Democrats, one Liberal Democrat Cabinet member from Wealden has spoken on social media about what he claims I “believe”. These comments are designed to discredit me.

I met with Cllr Partridge on Thursday evening when he did express regret for having made the demands. It was not an easy decision but I am not one to be bullied into a course of action and I was (and remain) concerned about the imbalance within the Alliance in respect of the two political groups that currently make it up. The fast and loose way in which rules are bent or broken to achieve objectives (as I believe they have been) is anathema to good Governance and transparent decision making. Open, Honest and Transparent (as the Council strategy promises to be) it certainly isn’t.

Voters in Wealden deserve active Councillors willing to make the difficult decisions without undue pressure to think or vote a certain way. Given the email I received on Wednesday morning I did not think that the Alliance was a place where this could be achieved and I would challenge anyone who would argue that democracy was being served if they received a similar set of demands and a threat from the so called “partners” that they would withdraw support if a vote did not go the way they wanted.

To be clear, I remain a Councillor and I look forward to continuing to serve Wealden’s residents working with colleagues across the Council to the best of my ability in the future. Please do get in touch if you would like further information or support me.

Very best, Andrew

[email protected]    


Post Script:

Certain Alliance Councillors (in particular one Cabinet Member) have sought to make unevidenced claims about the circumstances around my resignation from the Alliance and Liberal Democrats. Specifically that I “sided with one of the groups trying to overturn it (the Alliance)”. This Councillor continues to misrepresent the position with unevidenced claims.