Controversy finally 'dead and buried'

AFTER months of rows it is back to business as usual for Ashwell Parish Council. Since October parish council meetings have been littered with arguments over the co-option of members. But after a meeting of the parish council the matter is "dead and buried". Cllr Barny Shergold is one of two new members who were co-opted. Following a lengthy discussion at the meeting on electing new members, Cllr Shergold told The Crow: "It was an interesting meeting to say the least. The issue was discussed in quite a bit of depth. "We decided on a process for making sure this didn't happen again, and how elections would be approached." Parish clerk Jane Porter explained the workings of the new election process. "If councillors have got to co-opt, they will approach the person who was next on the list at the previous poll, but was unsuccessful. "If there is no person, they will advertise the position and will vote among individual parties." The controversy originally ignited when three councillors stood down after members believed they were not fully informed of the parties interested in standing for election. The parish council was also divided over concerns that Cllr William Fletcher, who was co-opted, was the nephew of Cllr Fergus Moynihan and Cllr Sarah Talks - a fact that was not made clear to members. Cllr Shergold said: "The discussions took a long time, but we voted on it and the general consensus is that it's dead and buried. I think everyone is fed up to the back teeth of it." Richard Young has also been co-opted, but was unable to attend the parish council meeting due to prior commitments.